11. Richard Tice and Isabel Oakeshott
The Reform Party is seriously spooking the Tories. And that means Richard Tice, its leader, gets a prominent spot. He doesn’t have the same political potency as his party’s founder Nigel Farage, but the GB News regular is becoming more and more interesting to SW1 as Reform’s polling improves. Oakeshott, a former Sunday Times political editor, has an uncanny ability to make the political weather too. Since last Valentine’s Day, her controversial lockdown files exclusive, in which she leaked a load of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s 100,000 WhatsApp messages to the Telegraph after helping Hancock write his memoirs, dominated the news agenda for weeks.
12. Wes Streeting and Joe Dancey
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting — a close ally of Starmer, and one of the party’s strongest media performers — could find his other half sitting with him on the green benches if all goes well for Labour at the next general election. His communications and public affairs adviser partner Joe Dancey is standing in the new Stockton West seat, which the recent constituency-by-constituency YouGov poll also suggests is poised to turn red.
13. Eleanor Shawcross and Simon Wolfson
These two don’t often make headlines, but they remain big movers and shakers behind the scenes in Tory circles. Shawcross, an ex-David Cameron-era special adviser, is one of Rishi Sunak’s highest paid aides and has been tasked with delivering and implementing the PM’s policies, particularly public sector productivity and health. Her Conservative peer husband Simon Wolfson, boss of retail giant Next, has long been a big-hitter in Tory circles and was a major donor to Cameron. Shawcross also happens to be the daughter of William Shawcross, the writer and broadcaster who is currently commissioner for public appointments — a Westminster watchdog that often faces political heat.
14. David Frost and Harriet Mathews
Former Brexit negotiator Frost continues to be an important figure on the Tory right. His association with a strategically-timed You Gov poll predicting wipe-out for the Conservatives at the next election put him back in the headlines, and firmly in the No. 10 bad books. Currently a Tory peer, Frost has aspirations to join the action in the House of Commons, and confirmed last year he is looking for a parliamentary seat to fight. He has yet to find one. His wife, Harriet Mathews, is a big hitter in foreign affairs. She is now director general for Africa and the Americas at the Foreign Office.
15. Declan Lyons and Sophia True
Is it True love? These two are veterans of special adviser power-coupledom. Lyons, who served under Boris Johnson, remains an integral part of the Downing Street operation as a senior adviser in the No. 10 political office. His wife Sophia True, daughter of Tory peer Nicholas True, is now working for Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho as an adviser on policy and comms.
16. Josh Grimstone and Finley Morris
Here’s another SpAd pairing. Grimstone has been a loyal aide to Cabinet heavyweight Michael Gove for six years — a politician never far from the action. Morris is newer to Whitehall. He joined Energy Sec Coutinho’s SpAd team as a policy adviser in November, but has been around Conservative politics for a while, and was previously a director of the Tory networking group Conservatives in Communications.
