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The UK vaccine czar will pay nearly £ 700,000 in taxpayer money to a team of boutique PR consultants whose secretary is a longtime business partner of Dominic Cummings’ father-in-law.
Over the weekend, it was reported that Kate Bingham, the head of the vaccine task force, who reports directly to the prime minister, was going to spend more than £ 670,000 hiring public relations consultants from a firm called Admiral Associates.
The owner and founding managing director of Admiral Associates is listed in the company house as Georgie Cameron, whose husband Angus Collingwood-Cameron is also listed as secretary. He is also a park manager for the Chillingham Castle Wild Cattle Association and a director since 2004 along with Humphry Wakefield, Cummings’ father-in-law.
Eight of Cameron’s independent consultants are overseeing Bingham’s media strategy. There has been growing concern after it was claimed that Bingham disclosed sensitive data on the government’s investment priorities to American financiers before it emerged that he could personally benefit from launching a UK taxpayer-funded investment fund.
Appearing before a joint select committee hearing last week, Bingham denied wrongdoing, describing the report as “nonsense”, “inaccurate” and “irresponsible.”
On its LinkedIn page, in the only post in the last five months, Admiral Associates appeared to announce that it was hiring for roles to support the UK pandemic response and that they needed people trained in crisis communications.
He said that the experience of working with or within a healthcare or research setting and / or a government department was an asset and that the compensation would be “excellent for the right candidates.”
The global company reported tangible assets of £ 2,884 and total capital of £ 194,065 last year. The company presentation read: “The director of the company has chosen not to include a copy of the profit and loss account in the financial statements.”
The partnership between Wakefield and the public relations company is likely to reignite allegations of a so-called ‘chumocracy’ at the center of British politics after a series of contracts amid the coronavirus crisis were awarded no-bid to allies. of the prime minister’s chief of staff.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “These revelations raise even more serious questions about how taxpayers’ money is spent during the pandemic and how the government is managed.
“The public deserves urgent answers on how a small PR agency with close ties to the prime minister’s closest adviser simply received such a large contract, and what exactly was delivered for that price.
“We know Dominic Cummings doesn’t think the rules apply to him, but this is not a way to deal with taxpayer money. The prime minister must be transparent about the processes he has put in place to allow for such possible breaches of public trust. “
According to the Sunday Times, £ 500,000 has already been spent on the team, which is on contract through the end of the year, suggesting that each consultant has the equivalent of £ 167,000 a year. There was no open procurement process, but this is not unusual in some circumstances.
Bingham, who is married to Conservative Minister Jesse Norman, has a temporary role and was always expected to resign later this year. The role was not announced and it has been reported that Johnson may have been hired by Johnson, from whom she won praise for her work in procuring coronavirus vaccines.
Those assisting Bingham, who reports directly to the prime minister, are reportedly helping her prepare for media appearances, writing statements and overseeing a vaccine podcast on Spotify, which has aired eight episodes since August.
The preamble to an episode reads: “Developing a vaccine is one thing, but manufacturing it in very large quantities is a significant challenge in itself.” Another episode is about reassuring people who may be reluctant to get vaccinated.
The apparent public relations push comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Tuesday that he had asked the NHS to prepare for the launch of the vaccine next month.
Collingwood-Camerons and Admiral Associates did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for issue 10 said: “It is ridiculous to make such an imaginary and tenuous link. Dominic Cummings has never heard of Georgina or Angus Cameron.
“The vaccine working group acquired specialist communications support in accordance with good practice.”
