Grace Pritchard will be the No.10 director of news, as well as the prime minister’s spokesperson. She became a spokesperson for Burnham during his by-election campaign while on loan from Ed Miliband’s team of special advisers. She was given a permanent job in Team Burnham after impressing during the successful bid to get him back into parliament.
John Stevens is staying on as press secretary. The former political journalist — who worked at the Mirror and Daily Mail — knows both officials, and the Lobby of Westminster reporters well.
Tom Wells, a civil servant, is expected to stay on as the prime minister’s official spokesperson. A job which involves facing journalists at the daily Lobby briefing. Pritchard and Stevens are planning to sometimes join the daily briefings of Westminster journalists to give political briefings.
Danny Coyne, a former adviser to key Burnham ally Louise Haigh, is being lined up to work on No.10’s weekly grid of announcements.
Varun Chandra will remain chief business adviser to the prime minister. It is a post he’s held since December. He has deep ties with both the corporate world and the Trump administration.
Jonathan Powell is expcted to stay on as national security adviser — another very senior holdover from the Starmer era.
Dan Bloom and Emilio Casalicchio contributed reporting.
