It’s not what you know… Ed Miliband misses out on ‘most connected’ list
By politics.co.uk staff
Ed Miliband has fallen short of getting into a list of the best connected 100 men in Britain – unlike his spin doctor.
Tom Baldwin, Miliband's senior press adviser, appeared in the list compiled by GQ magazine and described as "a cross between Alastair Campbell, Hunter S Thompson and Rasputin".
Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt was judged a 'socialite' and 'influencer', while David Cameron was classified as a 'socialite', a category "renowned for their hospitality and generosity".
Miliband's brother David, now the head of the New York-based International Rescue charity, was praised for having reinvented himself on the world stage.
But the Labour leader himself, who did not feature under the 'leader' category as a person who has "profile as well as purpose", was omitted for struggling "to reinvent Labour in time for the next election".
No 10 figures also featured prominently on the list. Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was judged to be a 'spider', while Ameet Gill and Tim Luke – the director of strategic communications and a senior business adviser respectively – also appeared.
London mayor Boris Johnson and Peter Tatchell were included, classified as a 'connector' and 'influencer' respectively.
The list, which declares that "the era of traditional top-down power is over", also included Stephen Fry, the Prince of Wales, Andy Murray and portrait painter Jonathan Yeo.
