By Tony O’Riley-
Former journalist Allegra Stratton is to become the government’s new press secretary leading televised press briefings.
Stratton has worked for both ITV and the BBC, and will lead daily updates expected to begin from November.
Boris Johnson has said the briefings will allow the public more “direct engagement” with the government.
Stratton’s role followed an advertisement by the Conservative party for a confident applicant who relished the challenge of dealing with live audiences on a daily basis. Its a £100k a year job. Ms Stratton also worked as Newsnight’s political editor, co-presented ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme and was employed as a political correspondent for The Guardian.
Mr Johnson expressed his wish to choose who he wanted to become the face and voice of the Government.
Downing Street refused to comment on candidates during the search, simply insisting that it would be a ‘full and proper process’.
However, one senior minister told Politico last month that Ms Stratton is ‘brilliant’ and ‘there is no contest and no one else who could do it better’.
Ms Stratton left her role as co-presenter of the Peston on Sunday programme on ITV in April 2018 after two years in order to spend more time with her two young children, Vaughn and Xanthe.
She had reportedly returned to the show just six weeks after the birth of Xanthe in May 2017, initially taking her baby with her to work.
She also served as national editor at ITV News, a role she left in April this year in order to become Mr Sunak’s director of communications.
She has been credited with helping to boost the Chancellor’s public profile and increasing his popularity during the coronavirus crisis.
Downing Street’s plans to introduce the briefings suffered a set back at the end of August after it emerged that Sky News and the BBC may not always cover the events.
Image:bbc.co.uk