Former Theresa May aide Nick Timothy blames consultants for election failure
GETTY Former aide Nick Timothy has blamed political consultants for Theresa May’s electoral humiliation
Nick Timothy, who quit as one of the Prime Minister's chiefs-of-staff on Monday following a party outcry about last week's poll result, said the ill-fated plan to run a presidential-style campaign had come from external advisers rather than Mrs May or her team. He admitted in an article for the Spectator magazine: "Because this election failed to produce the majority we needed, it is impossible to call the campaign anything but a failure."
Mr Timothy, who played a key role in writing the party's election manifesto, has been attacked by many Tory ministers and backbenchers for the poll meltdown. But he hit back today, insisting the document had been "honest" and rightly not filled with unaffordable policies. He said: "While I accept that the manifesto might have been too ambitious, I worry that the implication of this argument is that politicians should not be straight with the electorate."
We envisaged a return to traditional campaigning methods Former advisor Nick Timothy
He said the campaign run by political consultants had ignored "radical" ideas in the manifesto that had been drafted to tackle social divisions laid bare by the EU referendum. Mr Timothy also said that Mrs May had wanted a campaign based on policy with a her Cabinet ministers playing a much bigger role but had been overruled by strategists. Mr Timothy said: "We envisaged a return to traditional campaigning methods, with daily press conferences to scrutinise Labour and promote our policies.
Hundreds descend on Parliament to protest Theresa May's DUP deal Mon, June 12, 2017 Crushed by an election gamble that backfired and triggered calls for her resignation, Theresa May stood by her vow to form Britain's next government and lead the country out of the European Union Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 9 Protesters march against the Conservative party alliance with the DUP
"Theresa, never comfortable hogging the limelight, expected to make more use of her ministerial team. "On the advice of the campaign consultants, and following opinion research that showed Theresa to be far more popular than the party or her colleagues, we eschewed our instincts. We were wrong to do so." He added: "My biggest regret, however, is that we did not campaign in accordance with the insight that took Theresa to Downing Street in the first place.
GETTY Nick Timothy was resigned following the election result along with fellow advisor Fiona Hill
"While the referendum result was undoubtedly an instruction for Britain to leave the EU, it was also a vote for change." Instead of highlighting the commitment to change, the campaign had wrongly focused on presenting Mrs May as a presidential leader, Mr Timothy said. He named campaign strategist Sir Lynton Crosby and poll guru Jim Messina as two of the external consultants hired by the party.
GETTY Mr Timothy claimed a consultancy firmed advised Theresa May be the focus of the campaign