Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed former Daily Mail political editor James Slack as her official spokesperson just days after Wikipedia banned the publication after deeming the news group “generally unreliable”.
Last week the online encyclopedia imposed a blanket ban on the Daily Mail with editors saying the move “centred on the Daily Mail’s reputation for poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication”
But the official response has been somewhat to the contrary, with May appointing their political editor into a senior position within government.
Slack’s role will include responsibilities such as daily lobby briefings with journalists, with the former Mail reporter replacing Helen Bower, who is now taking up a new role as director of communications in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
One Westminster source told PRWeek: “I think they’ve done it on a very hefty package.
“He’s come in at Theresa’s request. [Daily Mail editor] Dacre really likes James, thinks he’s shit hot, Theresa really likes James. You see they’ve got a common interest; they’re not going to kick up much of a fuss about it. It shows the alignment between The Mail and Downing Street right now.
“James will be a much more high-profile role than a normal PMS. Technically he’ll be a civil servant but he’s going to have parity, pretty much, with Katie [Perrior, Downing Street director of communications].”