Writer

Jennifer Lees-Marshment

Web

University of Dundee Web Team

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University of Dundee Business School

Interviewees

Below is a list of the practitioners who agreed to be interviewed for this research.

This enabled me to harness and synthesize many valuable individual perspectives into an even more valuable collective wisdom.

In doing so they have contributed to making the world of political staffing better for those who will come after them.

Political staffers and advisers interviewed, 2022-23

 

Advisers to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

 

John Kunkel, Chief of Staff

Yaron Finkelstein, Principal Private Secretary

Thomas Adolph, Acting Senior Media Adviser 

Reg Chamberlain, Senior Advisor, Strategic communications

Damian Damjanovski, Senior Advisor, Strategy and Communications

Sam Develin, Senior Policy Adviser 

Rachel Howard, Senior Advisor for Policy (Education and Women)

David Hughes, Director of Strategy and Research 

Jacob Masina, Adviser, Parliamentary and Corporate

Paul Ritchie, Senior Advisor, Speechwriting and correspondence

Olivia Simpson, Assistant Adviser - Strategic Communications

Daniel Wong, Director of Corporate and Government and Secretariat to Government Staffing Selection Committee

 

 

 

 

 

Staffers for Canadian 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

 

Katie Telford, Chief of Staff

Gerald Butts, Principal Secretary

Ayesha Chughtai, Prairies and North Regional Desk

Ben Chin, Senior Policy Advisor

Dan Arnold, Director of Research and Advertising

Dominic Cormier, Senior Fiscal and Economic Policy Advisor

Gabrielle Cesvet, Senior Speechwriter 

Jeni Armstrong, Lead Speechwriter

Jonathan Barry, Senior Writer

Mathieu Bouchard, Senior Advisor for Quebec/Legal

Ryan Adam, Prairie Regional Desk Adviser

Simon Beauchemin, Manager Canada-US Relations

Laura D’Angelo, Senior Manager Executive Office

Jordan Deagle, Deputy Director of Communication

Michael Den Tandt, Communications Advisor

Rachel Doran, Policy Advisor

Melissa George, Human Resources Advisor

Emily Grant, Advance

Geoffrey Hall, Deputy Director Executive Office

Oz Jungic, Policy Advisor

Jonathan Kalles, Quebec Regional Desk

Jamie Kippen, Ontario Regional Desk

Alex Kohut, Senior Manager of Research and Advertising

Justine Leblanc, Advance

Michael McNair, Director of Policy

Tyler Meredith, Policy Advisor

Zubair Patel, Director of Community Outreach

Kate Purchase, Executive Director Communications and Planning

Julie Savard-Shaw, Policy Adviser

Benjamin Sparkes, Advance

Liam St Louis, Public Appointments

Marci Surkes, Executive Director Policy and Cabinet Affairs 

Alex Wellstead, Press Secretary 

Cameron Wilson, Public Appointments

 

SpAds for

UK 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

 

Simone Finn, Deputy Chief of Staff

Danielle Dove, Business Relations

Rory Gribbell, Education Policy

Guto Harri, Director of Communications

Alex Hickman, Business Appointments and Honours

Oliver Lewis, Deputy Chief Negotiator and Brexit Adviser

Stephanie Lis, Deputy Press Secretary

Munira Mirza, Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit

Andrew Parsons, Director of Photography

James Phillips, Adviser on Science and Technology

Rajiv Shah, Policy Adviser

Nick Vaughan, Operations

Michael Young, Brexit

Staffers for 

New Zealand 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Mike Munro, Chief of Staff 

Sarah Austen-Smith, Deputy Director of Communications

Rob Carr, Senior Ministerial Advisor

Emily Draper, Communications Advisor

Joy Gribben, Senior Press Secretary

Leah Haines, Senior Press Secretary

Julie Jacobsen, Press Secretary

Mike Jaspers, Chief Advisor Strategic communications

Political Staffers from other offices

Tim Gartrell, Chief of Staff to the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Georgia Goldsworthy, Chief of Staff to the Australian Labor Minister for Finance and Women

Ben Rillo, Chief of Staff to the Australian Special Minister of State and member of the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce

Melissa Cotton, Managing Director in the Canadian Liberal Research Bureau

Practitioners working closely with staffers on reform interviewed 2022-23

  • Tim Abrahams, Assistant Secretary for Workplace Culture and Reform, Australian Department of Finance
  • Lee Bridges, Director of Policy and Engagement, UK Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
  • Annie Carpentier, Deputy Director Members HR Canadian House of Parliament
  • Karen Chhour, New Zealand ACT MP and Parliamentary Culture Committee
  • Pamela Dow, Founder UK Cabinet Office Government Skills Campus and Chief Operating Officer of Civic Future
  • Rafael Gonzalez-Montero, Chief Executive, Parliamentary Service in New Zealand
  • Kerri Hartland, Independent Chair of the 46/47th Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce in Australia
  • Dominic Houlihand, HR Director UK House of Lords
  • Linda Lapointe, Canadian Liberal Party MP and Caucus Liaison
  • Brigitte Lemire, Program Manager, Member' Orientation and Training Program Revitalization, Canadian House of Parliament
  • Jan Logie, New Zealand Green MP and Parliamentary Services Parliamentary Culture Committee
  • Kim McGrath, Head of Member HR Service, Members’ Services Team, UK House of Commons
  • Olivia Rankin, Director of Staff Support, Australian Government
  • Taki Sarantakis, President Canada School of Public Service
  • Angie Warren-Clark, New Zealand Labour MP and Parliamentary Culture Committee
  • Michael Wernick, Clerk of the Privy Council Government of Canada