Search for a speech writer

The Brown camp is furious that political advisor Stephen Carter appears to have been briefing his friends in the PR world again, this time over the PM's need for a new speech writer.

The word is that Carter - rightly - thinks Brown's speeches are too boring, and he needs to liven them up. One insider is quoted as saying: "It has been ack­now­le­dged that the Governme­nt's messa­ges are too cluttered and that Gordon needs to show a bit more personality, rather than the stilted language that he tends to use when he makes these speeches."

Brown's chief speech writer is currently Beth Russell, a former Treasury official, with a close friend of Brown's, Dr Colin Currie, chipping in on a part-time basis.

Brown has been known to walk up to journalists before impromptu gigs and say: "Have you got any jokes? He regularly tells the same anecdote to squaddies and schoolchildren alike: Field Marshall Montgomery was once asked to name the three best generals in history. "I can tell you who the other two were..." said Montgomery. Eyes have glazed over at the Prime Minister's heavy attempt at off-the-cuff wit.

Carter, a former chief executive of Brunswick, the PR consultancy, is said to have approached three of Tony Blair's speech writers - Peter Hyman, David Bradshaw and Phil Collins - to see if they are interested in ret­urning to Number 10.

The Brown camp is mortified that Carter or his friends appear to have briefed PR Week, the source of the last Carter-inspired glut of stories about in-fighting inside Number Ten. The last round of stories was fuelled by the sudden departure of Spencer Livermore, Brown's closest aide for a decade, who helped to craft his speeches at the Treasury.

THE MOLE: CARTER ROW

FIRST POSTED MARCH 28, 2008