Blair Staff to Exit via Revolving Door

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With British Prime Minister Tony Blair expected to retire from politics in the next few weeks, some of his staff are already jumping ship. In August, Blair's former adviser on strategic communications, Julia Simpson, will begin work as head of corporate communications with British Airways. In doing so, Simpson is following a well-worn path, reports PR Week. "In 2001, Anji Hunter famously left Downing Street to take up BP’s director of comms role. More recently, key Blairites to jump ship include Darren Murphy, now head of government ­relations and external affairs at AstraZeneca and Jim Godfrey, now head of corporate affairs at ITV." Fleishman-Hillard director Nick Brown believes that Blair's staff will be in great demand among PR circles. "Anyone who has senior ­experience of this type of problem solving in politics, in the media and in the spotlight will attract interest," he said.