Lord Hill is David Cameron's choice as UK's next European commissioner
PM hopes mainstream candidate will persuade Jean-Claude Juncker to give Britain one of main economic portfolios
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
theguardian.com, Tuesday 15 July 2014 21.16 AEST
Lord Hill worked as a special adviser to the pro-European Ken Clarke in the 1980s.
Lord Hill of Oareford, the leader of the House of Lords who hails from the centre ground of the Tory party, has been nominated by David Cameron to take over as Britain's next European commissioner.
The prime minister will be hoping that by nominating a mainstream figure, the incoming European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, will be persuaded to hand Britain a substantial post.
...
Cameron will present Hill's name to Juncker when they meet on the fringes of a European summit in Brussels on Wednesday. The prime minister may have to work hard to persuade Juncker to hand Britain one of the main economic portfolios – trade, internal market, competition or energy – because the incoming European commission president had said he would like EU leaders to nominate women candidates. [Are you kidding? What's with the women?]
Cameron will also have to persuade Juncker that Hill is a substantial figure despite never having run a government department. But the prime minister will say that Hill, who worked as a special adviser to the pro-European Ken Clarke in the 1980s, is a serious politician who has adopted a constructive approach to the EU during two decades of Tory battlles over Europe. [Why not give them a woman? Plenty to choose from now.]
The PM will also be able to say that Cathy Ashton, Britain's current European commissioner who also doubles up as the EU's foreign policy chief ...
FULL @ - The Guardian - here.
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COMMENT
Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford (Lord)
UK Conservative politician
Middle of the road
Created life peer 2010
Worked at Bell Pottinger ... a British multinational public relations and marketing company.
It is the largest UK-based public relations consultancy measured by 2010 fee income.
Bell Pottinger offers services such as lobbying, speech writing, search engine optimisation and "sorting" (fixing) Wikipedia articles to clients including companies, governments and high net worth individuals. In December 2011 it came under public scrutiny after managers were secretly recorded talking to fake representatives of the Uzbek government and abusing Wikipedia by removing negative information and replacing it with positive spin. [PR firms, eh? ]
Bell Pottinger was, until July 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime Communications plc. Lord Bell*, who advised Margaret Thatcher on media matters when she was UK Prime Minister, is a co-founder of Bell Pottinger.*Lord Bell is buddy of oligarch Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, handled the media attention behind poisoned Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died in hospital 23 November 2006
Policy secretary (PM John Major)
Leader House of Lords 2013-2014
Cambridge educated
History, MA
[wikipedia]
"... appointed to leader of the House of Lords despite still holding shares in Huntsworth".
SOURCE: FT UK - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/acf870fa-0c07-11e4-9080-00144feabdc0.html
Huntsworth
Industry Public relations
Founded 1974
Founder(s) Lord Chadlington
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Locations 72 principal offices in 31 countries
Area served Worldwide
Key people Lord Chadlington (CEO)
Services Public relations
Integrated healthcare communications
Revenue Increase £ 174.70 million (2010)
Net income Increase £ 15.80 million (2010)
Employees 1,600
Subsidiaries Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Grayling
Huntsworth Health
Red[wikipedia]
Ministers' meetings linked to top Tory lobbying firm Quiller Consultants
Conservative ministers are holding frequent meetings with clients of a lobbying firm headed by one of Chancellor George Osborne's close friends.October 19, 2011 by David Singleton
With lobbying under the media spotlight, a PRWeek analysis has found that clients of Quiller Consultants are enjoying regular access to top Tories.
Huntsworth-owned Quiller is headed up by George Bridges, a friend of Osborne’s who helped run the party’s 2010 general election campaign.
Quiller co-founder Jonathan Hill is now a junior minister in the Department for Education.
SOURCE - PR Week - here.
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Whats's with all the UK & EU affirmative action?
Rather off-putting.
Not into token women in politics trend.
The most exciting thing about this guy is that he tried to resign as minister in 2012.
Mind you, I haven't checked beyond the PR-corrupted wikipedia site. LOL [UPDATED SINCE]
Must have a read of the umbrella-spy stuff some time (Litvinenko). Didn't pay much attention when it happened.
How crap is it that these PR firms are whitewashing wikipedia.
It means having to check alternate sources of information -- which I haven't done in this case.
Someone should start a counter wikipedia, with all the juicy bits emblazoned online.
