When he entered Downing Street five months ago as Boris Johnson’s director of communications, Guto Harri made a splash with an interview that described his new boss as ‘not a complete clown’.
Now, in the autopsy and recriminations that inevitably follow the downfall of any prime minister, fingers are pointing Harri at a tenure some describe as almost as gaffe-prone as his boss’s.
He was also one of the last people to urge Johnson to “stay and fight” on Wednesday night as it became clear that dozens of ministers had resigned and Johnson’s government was crumbling before their eyes.
“He was nothing if not loyal to Boris, at least while he was on payroll. He did the best, loyally, he could do. But there were tactical misjudgments and he loves the briefings,” said a Tory aide who witnessed Harri’s modus operandi.
“To be fair to him, he inherited the job when government communications were quite troubled, and it would have been an amazing job if he had been able to turn the ship around at that time.”
Journalists found Harri, who was also Johnson’s communications adviser during his London town hall, to be more amiable and charming than some government spinners – and happy to pick up the phone. Many also appreciated the colorful quotes he gave for their stories, some of which may have been inadvisable from a PR standpoint.
“He’s a very lovely guy and I have a thing for him, but I never know how seriously he takes the job,” said a veteran reporter who has known Harri for decades. Harri’s friends say he would have liked to be judged mainly by political journalists, and they respect him.
However, those who have known him from No 10 and as special advisers react with wide eyes when asked about his work for Johnson, describing him as too laid back and relaxed about communications work.
Harri was pitted by a government aide against another figure – Deputy Chief of Staff David Canzini – brought in as part of attempts to ‘reset’ operations in No 10. The aide claimed that Harri was “a total clown” while Canzini had been very effective, and compared the two men to cartoon characters Pinky and the Brain.
At a Spectator party on Thursday night, with tensions high over Johnson’s resignation, Harri was confronted by Josh Grimstone, a special adviser to Michael Gove, over the circumstances of Johnson’s ‘revenge’ of the secretary’s sacking. of upgrade.
A former PR for Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, Harri had moments of efficiency in Downing Street. Privately, he took credit for killing the Times story that Johnson tried to appoint his then-girlfriend Carrie to a £100,000 Foreign Office job after having been removed from the journal for its second edition.
While some senior Tory MPs are pricing Harri for removing some of the toxicity of No 10 since the Dominic Cummings era – and supporters say he has managed to pivot Johnson towards greater broadcast exposure and outlets with mass appeal – others blame it for contributing to the sense of chaos around Johnson’s communications.
The Chris Pincher affair was a flashpoint for this when Harri informed the No 10 press team that the former Deputy Chief Whip was vulnerable amid allegations of drunken groping, and drew a comparison to the suicide of Iraqi weapons expert David Kelly. This comment went so badly that it was later leaked.
There was also anger among Tory MPs over the handling of Johnson’s impromptu trip to Ukraine last month, which meant he failed to show up for the Northern Research Group conference in Doncaster. While the media were told by Harri early in the day that Johnson would miss the event as he was in Ukraine, Tory MPs were told until midday to expect the Prime Minister to attend.
“If you were to blame the Doncaster car crash on someone creating a story of unnecessary process that upstaged and pissed off colleagues, it’s all Guto,” a source said.
The source added, “Guto clearly thinks he’s a passenger and he’s just here for the ride. He has a nice CV, a track record with the PM and seems to tick all the boxes. But from a political management perspective, he has no idea.
Harri’s past business dealings have also come under scrutiny since entering No. 10. He has been dubbed “Huawei Harri” for joining Hawthorn Advisers, a public relations company that has made pressure for the Chinese technology company. Several other Hawthorn staff members later joined the press office.
Harri reportedly alienated already frustrated special advisers at a meeting last month, where he told them to be as good at getting the government’s message out as they were briefing the press on the meeting’s content. “It was probably meant to sound self-effacing and be a bit realpolitik, but it ended up tarnishing the room full of people like deceitful shit,” one attendee said.
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However, one of the clearest examples of Harri’s MO came during Johnson’s trip to the G7 and NATO summits, when he caused a storm over defense spending.
After Johnson’s civil service spokesman briefed reporters at a hotel in Austrian Tyrol across the border about the G7 gathering in Bavaria, Harri sat in silence before intervening in a discussion over whether Johnson could deliver on his promise to raise the defense budget above inflation, as promised in the 2019 Conservative manifesto.
There was a need for a “reality check” on promises made before the Covid pandemic and near-single-digit inflation, Harri said. As reporters scribbled quotes in their notepads, Johnson’s official spokesperson stared at the ceiling, grimly aware that damaging reporting had been created. The row lasted for the rest of the trip, forcing Johnson to use his final press conference at NATO to promise an increase in the defense budget to around 2.5% of GDP.
Harri was approached for comment.