John McTernan

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For the Australian actor, see John McTernan (actor).
File:John McTernan (15580385457).jpg
McTernan speaking at Policy Exchange, November 2014

John McTernan (born 1959) is a British Labour Party political adviser, political strategist and commentator.

McTernan was Prime Minister Tony Blair's Director of Political Operations from 2005 to 2007. He then worked on the November 2007 Australian Labor Party federal election campaign, which Labor won with a large majority.[1] From 2007 to 2010 he was special adviser to two Cabinet Ministers in Gordon Brown's Labour Government: first to Des Browne, Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Defence.[2] and then to Jim Murphy MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 until May 2010. From June 2010 to October 2011 he was a columnist at The Scotsman, and then director of communications for the Australian Labor prime minister, Julia Gillard, from September 2011 to June 2013.[3] He was Chief of Staff to the 2014–2015 leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, who resigned after the Labour Party lost all but one seat in Scotland, including Murphy's, in the 2015 general election.

Early life

McTernan was born in London and grew up in Edinburgh, attending Firrhill High School. McTernan attended the University of Edinburgh, where he studied English.[4]

Political career

McTernan was Political Secretary/Director of Political Operations at 10 Downing Street for Tony Blair[1] from 2005 to 2007, where he provided political management and support for the development of the government's political strategy .In 2007 McTernan was seconded to the Scottish Labour Party to run its campaign for the May 2007 Scottish Parliament election.[5][6][7] In 2007 he worked on the November 2007 Australian Labor Party federal election campaign.[1] From 2007 to 2008 he was Special Adviser to Des Browne, Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Defence.[8] He was special adviser to Jim Murphy MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 until May 2010.[citation needed] From June 2010 to October 2011 he was a columnist at The Scotsman.[citation needed] From February 2011 to October 2011 he was Thinker in Residence at the Government of South Australia.[9] In September 2011, he was appointed as communications director to the Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard.[10] In January 2015, he was appointed Chief of Staff to Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour Leader ahead of the 2015 general election, and oversaw media and policy in this role.[11]

Cash for Honours

During the 2006–07 police investigation into the Cash for Honours political scandal surrounding the Labour Party, McTernan was twice questioned, under caution, by the Metropolitan Police.[5][6][12] No criminal charges were ever brought against McTernan or anybody else.

Racist Scotland email

In January 2008, while McTernan was employed as a special adviser to the Secretary of State for Scotland, it emerged that in 2002 McTernan had branded Scotland as being "narrow" and "racist" during the period he worked for the Scottish Arts Council. In an email to the then Labour MSP Karen Gillon, who was about to make a trip to Sweden, McTernan wrote “If you’ve not been to Sweden before, I think you’ll really like it – it’s the country Scotland would be if it wasn’t narrow, Presbyterian, racist etc. etc. Social democracy in action.”[13] The email was obtained by the The Sunday Times (London) under freedom of information legislation.[14][15]

Australian government media adviser

During 2012–13, while McTernan was director of communications to the Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard, a political scandal erupted over his employment. Accusations were made that Gillard had not attempted to find a suitable Australian candidate for the director of communications post, but had flouted Australia's visa process to employ John McTernan, a British citizen, on a 457 visa – a foreign workers scheme which is designed for employers who cannot find local candidates to fill jobs.[16] When a reporter from Australia's ABC News asked McTernan if he was working in Australia on a 457 Visa, he replied "hardly fucking relevant".[17][18]

Opposition to Jeremy Corbyn

McTernan strongly opposed Jeremy Corbyn, the eventual winner, in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, describing Corbyn’s popularity as a "strange psychological emotional spasm". McTernan stated "I can’t see any case for letting him have two minutes in office, let alone two years in office because I think the damage that will be done to the Labour party in that period makes it incredibly hard to recover".[19][20] He called the MPs who nominated Corbyn "moronic".[21]

Following the 2016 revelations about David Cameron's earlier offshore earnings, and Corbyn's call for an investigation,[22] McTernan argued in his Daily Telegraph column that tax avoidance is an expression of basic British freedoms.[23]

Later career

In February 2016 McTernan joined the policy and media advice agency Westminster Policy Institute as an associate.[24] He continued to write a regular column in The Daily Telegraph.[25]

References

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External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "John McTernan". London. The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Honours probe quiz for No 10 aide". BBC News Scotland. 24 January 2007.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Blair aide sent to stem SNP tide". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). 16 January 2007.
  7. ↑ "Now Holyrood election chief quizzed in peerages inquiry". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). 24 January 2007.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ "Now Holyrood election chief quizzed in peerages inquiry". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). 24 January 2007.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ "Coalition takes aim at Gillard staffer on 457 visa". ABC News. 5 March 2013.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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