Neil O'Brien is new Director of Policy Exchange

Congratulations to Neil O'Brien, currently running Open Europe, for being appointed the new Director of Policy Exchange.

Neil replaces Anthony Browne, who is off to work for Boris Johnson.

It's a great appointment.  Neil brings considerable intellectual and communication skills to the job.  (And, by way of an aside, as a child of Huddersfield he will be northern-friendly!).

PX is in a strong position - financially and staff-wise.  It recently appointed, for example, the very able James Bethell as Head of Communications, for example.  Its challenge is to retain strong links with the party but to be more independent-of-mind, particularly on economic policy.  The decline of the IEA has left the Conservative Party without adequate input on competitiveness issues.  As a centre right think tank, the plight of the UK economy should be at the top of Neil's in-tray.

Comments

[Westminster Wolf]

Great appointment.

[Sally Roberts]

Wonder who is going to take over Open Europe?

[David, let me have your babies]

I hope he learns to shave soon.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Another EU sceptic in a position of influence. Good.

[Lindsay Jenkins]

Might I suggest it is a little disingenuous to write of the decline of the IEA.

The IEA continues to produce cutting edge material of the right - but it is not wanted aboard the Cameron bandwagon - not liberal enough.

[Common Sense]

This is an excellent choice for PX. Neil understands the importance of independent political campaigning, as distinct from party political hackery.

[Libertarian]

Lindsay Jenkins's terms are incorrect. The IEA is too liberal, i.e. libertarian, for David Cameron. Cameron is a social democrat with left-wing policies on the environment and a politically correct approach to candidate selection.

I hope that Global Vision will take over the leadership of the Eurosceptic Movement from Open Europe. The latter, under the careerist O'Brien, was too Europhile for my taste. We are Better Off Out of the EU and should join EFTA instead.

[Lindsay Jenkins]

I think Libertarian you and I agree on David Cameron - what is 'right' is perhaps semantics.

We also agree on Better Off Out.

As the recently appointed director of BOO (hon. I may say!) I intend that BOO will be the lead in scepticism and realism of all things EU.

One thing we will not be doing is inviting that great Frenchman Giscard d'Estaing to London to give us our options!

[Alan S]

The IEA has wasted its influence under John Blundell. Noone thinks much of it anymore. Lord Harris and Arthur Seldon have not had good successors.

[Libertarian]

Even though I disagree with him on the EU, Graham Mather did a good job at the IEA. Ironically, he was booted out for being too close to Major and the Tories. Blundell was told to change that by the trustees. He has been too successful - the IEA has no influence, on politicians or in the media, at all.

[Matthew Wright]

While it is correct to say that the IEA is of no interest to Cameron, and that isn't their fault. The IEA has gone into a long decline all of its own accord. Today, it focuses mainly on nostalgia. It has totally lost the cutting edge it had under Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon. It is a shadow of its former self.

[think tanker]

The big problem with the IEA began when its centre of gravity moved from 2 Lord North Street to 54 Millbank.

[think tanker]

Sorry, I meant 58 Millbank!

[Patrick Harris]

Intellectual and communications skills.
That's all we need - another Spin doctor.