Public affairs and communications management

"Andy Coulson’s departure from No. 10 has called into question not only Cameron’s judgement in hiring him, but also whether the PM is able to communicate and relate to the British electorate.

As the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications, Andy Coulson, many believed, represented “ordinary people” within Cameron’s inner circle. He presented the PM with a link to part of the electorate that Cameron does not know. With the resignation of Coulson, some Conservatives fear the party no longer has a voice of the people.

The Conservative MP, David Davis, told the BBC that the majority of the cabinet “don’t come from a background where they had to scrap for the last penny, whereas Coulson conveyed the view of the “poorer part of the country”.

Cameron now needs to regain the public’s trust in his judgement. A recent ComRes poll has discovered that 66% of people thought the PM should not have hired Coulson knowing he had resigned as News of the Word Editor over a scandal. While this could be a struggle, the real challenge could actually be convincing the electorate he is in touch with real people.

As the effects of the difficult but necessary cuts are felt across the country, Number 10 need to ensure that the PM and his Cabinet are not seen as an elite group of public school educated men largely unaffected by the cuts and who do not understand the very real issues many families face.

Replacements for the Director of Communications are rumoured to be London Mayor Boris Johnson’s spin chief, former BBC political journalist Guto Harri, ex-Sun political editor George Pascoe-Watson, or Ian Birrell, former deputy editor of The Independent. However, whoever takes the job needs to offer an understanding of ordinary people’s concerns and this has to be communicated to and understood by the electorate."