Tory shadow cabinet member pens ode to Livermore
Home Secretary Theresa May (Getty)
The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons amused MPs yesterday with a poem, presumably written by her, about the Prime Minister’s departing Director of Strategy.
Theresa May was speaking at Business Questions yesterday.
Her poem concerns Spencer Livermore, who in December was named the most important gay person in British politics.
On Monday it was announced he is to leave the government after more than a decade at Gordon Brown’s side.
He became active in the Labour party in 1994, and by the 1997 election he was working for the party’s Economic Secretariat.
By 2005, he was Gordon Brown’s most senior adviser and in charge of strategy.
While many reports have claimed that Stephen Carter’s appointment to Downing St overseeing strategy had undermined him, those who work with both of them have dismissed reports of a bad relationship.
Newspaper claims that he was blamed for the cancelled election last Autumn, and that Gordon Brown reduced him to tears over it, have also been flatly denied.
Ms May told MPs:
“At Downing Street the other day, I met a man sent on his way.
“Close to Gordon for many years, the PM’s rants brought him to tears.
“But for all this he didn’t care. He was pleased to see his minister there.
“He’d been important once, you know. Now Carter told him: ‘You must go.'”
Leader of the House Harriet Harman was unmoved by the performance.
“I don’t know about her constituents, but mine are more interested in sound management than soundbites,” she told MPs.
“They would rather have competence than her version of comedy.”
Downing St sources said Spencer Livermore is still expected to play a key role in the next election campaign is excited about his new role as Senior Strategist at Saatchi Saatchi and Fallon, a leading consultancy and advertising company.
Those close to him admit it will be a massive change for him after more than a decade with Gordon Brown.
Having worked for the Prime Minister for that long, their relationship won’t end, say friends.
Livermore is expected to remain in regular phone and email contact.
Downing St insiders added that Gordon Brown has been working hard for the last couple of weeks to try to persuade him not to leave.
Livermore, 32, was named as the most powerful gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans person in British politics by PinkNews.co.uk in December.
