Guto Harri
Guto Harri CBE | |
---|---|
Downing Street Director of Communications | |
In office 5 February 2022 – 6 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Jack Doyle |
Succeeded by | Simon McGee (Director of Government Communications) |
Succeeded by | Adam Jones (Political Director of Communications) |
Personal details | |
Born | ) | 8 July 1966
Guto Harri
Harri spent 18 years as a journalist at the
In May 2021, Harri joined
Early life and education
Guto Harri was born in
Career
Television
He started his career in
Harri was a regular presenter on BBC television and radio programmes such as
Harri was appointed as a trustee of S4C in 2014,[8] and he was a member of the S4C Authority from 2014 to 2018.[9]
Since June 2018, he has presented the S4C current affairs television programme, Y Byd yn ei Le.[10] S4C confirmed that he would not continue hosting the program following his appointment as Downing Street Director of Communications.[11]
In May 2021, it was announced that Harri would be joining
Public relations
After leaving the BBC at the end of 2007, he was approached to work for Conservative Party leader David Cameron, but joined London public relations agency Fleishman-Hillard as a senior policy advisor, reportedly spending four days as an adviser to Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.[4]
In May 2008, he was appointed communications director for
He then joined Virgin Media owner Liberty Global in February 2016 as their managing director of external communications.[19][20] He left the role in December 2017.
In May 2018, Harri took a part-time role with London PR firm Hanover Communications as a vice president,[2] for GQ magazine as a contributing political editor,[21] and also for Hydro Industries, a water treatment company based in Llanelli where he is a director.[22][23]
Brexit/Boris Johnson
Harri is a critic of Brexit.[24][25] After Johnson likened Prime Minister Theresa May's Chequers Brexit agreement to a "suicide vest" around the British constitution in September 2018, Harri criticised Johnson for "[joking] about suicide vests" and being "sexually incontinent", saying he was "digging his political grave" with his comments.[26] He also said Johnson had become "more tribal, and tribal within the tribe, so that he would now be—if he were to become leader—a hugely divisive figure".[26]
Harri was a board director of Hawthorn Advisors, a communications consultancy based in London and co-founded by Conservative Party co-chair
Harri personally met with top executives from Huawei, including the company's vice-president, in 2020.Harri was critical of Boris Johnson over parties held in Downing Street and Westminster during COVID-19 lockdowns,[26] although he has argued that people were losing their "sense of perspective" over the controversy.[25] After a wave of resignations from Boris Johnson's team at 10 Downing Street in February 2022 in light of the scandal, he became Downing Street Director of Communications,[24] replacing Jack Doyle.
Harri left his Director of Communications post on 6 September 2022, the same day that Johnson resigned as Prime Minister.[31][32]
Family and personal life
Harri grew up in Rhondda Cynon Taf. He married his wife, Shireen, in 2000 and has three children.[33] In 2005, Harri published an advertisement in the Western Mail seeking a Welsh-speaking nanny for their two children while he worked for the BBC in New York City, in which he argued for the importance of the language in bringing up his children.[34] Outside work he says he enjoys rowing, sailing, fishing and cooking.[4]
Harri is a non-executive board member of the Hay Festival.[35] He was previously a trustee for UK-based cultural non-governmental organisation Visiting Arts.[36] Harri is trained and serves as a volunteer crew member on the River Thames for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.[37] He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of South Wales.[3]
He was appointed a
References
- ^ a b "Ex-BBC man is Johnson spokesman". BBC News. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
- ^ a b "Guto Harri". Hanover Communications. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Honorary Doctorate for political broadcaster, Guto Harri". www.southwales.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Prior, Neil (21 May 2012). "From Boris to Murdoch for PR man". BBC News. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Guto Harri". BBC News. 20 October 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ Mulholland, Hélène (4 May 2012). "Top Boris Johnson aide may quit City Hall". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ "Sajid Javid appoints 3 new Trustees to S4C". gov.uk. Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and S4C. 7 July 2014.
- ^ "S4C Chair thanks Guto Harri for his contribution". S4C. 2018.
Guto Harri was a member of the Authority from 9 July 2014 and his term would have run until 8 July 2020. His last meeting will be 27 Sept 2018.
- ^ "Guto Harri yn rhoi'r byd yn ei le mewn cyfres newydd". Lleol.Cymru (in Welsh). 12 June 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- ^ Morris, Jacob (7 February 2022). "Boris Johnson yn cymryd y ben-glin ac yn canu 'I Will Survive' wrth benodi ei Gyfarwyddwr Cyfathrebu newydd" [Boris Johnson takes a knee and sings 'I Will Survive' when appointing his new Director of Communications]. Golwg360 (in Welsh). Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ^ "Guto Harri joins new TV channel GB News". Nation.Cymru. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Waterson, Jim (16 July 2021). "GB News pulls Guto Harri off air after 'taking the knee' row". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "GB News says presenter Guto Harri breached standards by taking the knee". BBC News. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ Brown, Mark (18 July 2021). "Guto Harri quits GB News as Nigel Farage is given prime-time show". The Observer. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
I joined, part-time but with an ongoing commitment, because I liked and trusted those in charge and supported the broad vision. But the channel is rapidly becoming an absurd parody of what it proclaimed to be. Rather than defending free speech and confronting cancel culture, it has set out to replicate it on the far right.
- RTE News. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (10 November 2015). "News UK PR chief Guto Harri to leave after three years". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ Mulholl, Hélène (20 May 2012). "Boris Johnson's former aide takes PR job with News International". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (21 December 2015). "News UK PR chief Guto Harri to join Virgin Media owner Liberty Global". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ Harri, Guto (13 May 2019). "The Vatican has proved that, if you want a decision made quickly, you need to lock them in". British GQ. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "HYDRO INDUSTRIES LIMITED - Filing History (free information from Companies House)". Companies House. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "Meet the team - Guto Harri". Hydro Industries. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Boris Johnson names two new aides after No 10 party turmoil". BBC News. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ a b Mason, Rowena (6 February 2022). "Keep your friends close: why Boris Johnson hired Guto Harri". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Schofield, Kevin (6 February 2022). "Boris Johnson's New Spin Doctor Once Accused Him Of 'Digging His Political Grave'". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ "Our People". Hawthorn Advisors. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Owen, Jonathan (10 August 2021). "Hawthorn Advisors distances itself from co-founder amid lobbying row". PR Week. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ^ "Boris Johnson sang 'I Will Survive' to new communications chief Guto Harri". BBC News. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ^ Merrick, Rob (7 February 2022). "Labour demands answers over Boris Johnson's new spin chief's lobbying for Huawei". The Independent. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ^ "Boris Johnson hints at comeback ambition as he departs Downing Street". the Guardian. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ Guto Harri says Boris Johnson was 'an exceptional Prime Minister' as he leaves Number 10 post, walesonline.co.uk. Accessed 18 October 2022.
- ^ "BBC Press Office biography".
- ^ "Guto seeks Welsh-speaking nanny". WalesOnline. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "About Hay Festival".
- ^ "Visiting Arts Board".
- ^ "Guto Harri". Atlantic Speaker Bureau. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ "Resignation Honours 2023" (PDF). GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "No. 64120". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 July 2023. p. 14503.