Mark MacGregor is the new Deputy Director of Policy Exchange

By Peter Hoskin
_{Follow Peter on Twitter}

Change is afoot in Wonkland. ConservativeHome can reveal that Mark MacGregor has been appointed as Deputy Director of Policy Exchange, replacing David Skelton, who has, of course, departed to run a group dedicated to broadening the Conservative Party’s appeal in the North and elsewhere. Mr MacGregor will operate alongside the recently appointed Director of Policy Exchange, Dean Godson.

Many of you will recognise Mr MacGregor’s name from the party’s near past. He was, and then wasn’t, Chief Executive of CCHQ during the tumultuous Iain Duncan Smith years. And he went on to manage Steven Norris’s campaign for the London mayoralty in 2004. Since 2007, he’s been in the private sector, as CEO of Connect Support Services, an IT company which, incidentally, was founded by Adam Afriyie.

Mr MacGregor’s return to Westminster means that Policy Exchange now has quite a collection of modernising former party advisers at its disposal, including Sean Worth and James O'Shaughnessy. Their continuing influence is assured.