Simon Fletcher (political advisor)

Simon Fletcher is a prominent figure on the left of the British Labour Party.[1] He is a left wing political strategist and campaigner who has held senior positions working for socialist politicians including the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.

Biography

Fletcher was born in Oxfordshire and earned a first-class degree at the City of London Polytechnic.[2]

Career

Fletcher worked in the office of Tony Benn.[3]

A close aide to Ken Livingstone,[4] he was the first elected Mayor of London's chief of staff, heading Livingstone's office for two terms.[5] He is reported[6] to have negotiated Livingstone's early 're-entry' to the Labour Party after Livingstone had stood as an independent in the 2000 mayoral election.

Fletcher ran the successful campaigns to win the London Mayoralty (2000),[7] the Labour leadership (2015)[8] and the Scottish Labour leadership (2017).[9] He also ran Livingstone's campaign to be the Labour candidate for Mayor of London in 2010.[10]

Fletcher headed a Labour Party Tory-attack team in London in the 2010 general election.[11]

Having been the director of Jeremy Corbyn's campaign to be Labour Party leader he was then campaign director for the successful Scottish Labour leadership bid by Richard Leonard MSP.[12]

He worked in the office of two successive Labour Party leaders, having been the trade union liaison manager for Ed Miliband MP[13] and then chief of staff for Jeremy Corbyn[14]

In a 2014 Total Politics interview,[15] the then Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, defined a 'Fletcheresque' approach to campaigning, drawing attention to Fletcher's transition from Livingstone's chief of staff to Miliband aide: “I think lots of Labour voters are rally disheartened with Miliband” he says. “People don’t know what he stands for. He’s neither fish, flesh nor fowl. What’s the point of Miliband? He’s doing this terrible thing, this Fletcheresque [another reference to Simon Fletcher, Livingstone’s former chief of staff] nonsense of making these boutique offers to people.”

An Evening Standard profile[16] of Fletcher and other Livingstone mayoral advisers reported that when Livingstone traveled abroad he left Fletcher in charge, and quoted the London Assembly member Toby Harris as saying that Fletcher was the Mayor's 'surrogate brain.' The report stated that his 'abilities are highly regarded, even by those who do not warm to him.' The same newspaper in 2007 described him[17] as 'the Mayor's super-bright, ultra-loyal chief of staff.'

In 2020 he was appointed Strategic Campaigns Adviser for Keir Starmer's Labour leadership election campaign.

Personal life

According to the Independent, he is divorced.[18] The Huffington Post reports that he lives in Gateshead with his partner Marie Nixon, a former member of Sunderland’s Kenickie band.[19]

References
  1. Watson, Iain (2015-09-13). "Who are Jeremy Corbyn's main allies?". BBC News.
  2. Pickard, Jim (September 30, 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn's key backroom staff united by union pasts". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  3. Gosden, Emily (2015-07-26). "Jeremy Corbyn's team: The key figures backing the left-winger's leadership bid".
  4. "Meet the Mayor's advisers". 2002-07-23.
  5. "Who's who in Team Corbyn". 2016-02-03.
  6. Watson, Iain (2015-09-13). "Who are Jeremy Corbyn's main allies?". BBC News.
  7. "STOP PRESS: Livingstone appoints St Giles to press role".
  8. "STOP PRESS: Livingstone appoints St Giles to press role".
  9. McLaughlin, Mark (2017-09-09). "Corbynmania mastermind Simon Fletcher backs Richard Leonard for Scottish Labour". The Times.
  10. Mulholland, Hélène; Reporter, Political (2010-06-14). "Labour chief defends London mayoral candidate selection process". The Guardian.
  11. "How Ken Livingstone has set his sights on winning back City Hall in". 2010-01-14.
  12. Correspondent, Libby Brooks Scotland (January 2018). "Young people see Labour as Scotland's radicals, new leader says". The Guardian.
  13. "Meet Team Miliband". 2014-04-26.
  14. "Simon Fletcher: From communism to Corbyn's consigliere". 2015-09-18.
  15. "Boris Johnson: Cities slicker". 2014-04-27.
  16. "Meet the Mayor's advisers". 2002-07-23.
  17. "Ken and his cronies top new London power list". 2007-10-05.
  18. "Simon Fletcher: From communism to Corbyn's consigliere". 2015-09-18.
  19. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/exclusive-mcdonnell-furious-after-ex-corbyn-aide-simon-fletcher-rejected-for-safe-seat_uk_5dc6a50fe4b00927b233ac4d
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