F-H to assist Davis' 'Freedom' campaign

Clare O'Connor 17-Jun-08

David Davis has called in PR support for his controversial 'David Davis for Freedom' campaign, which officially launched this week.

The former shadow home secretary has enlisted Fleishman-Hillard to help with digital PR. The agency's digital head Paul Borge registered the domain name for Davis' campaign website, which includes web 2.0 applications such as a Twitter feed and a Facebook group.

The website will support Davis' by-election fight following his high-profile resignation from the Conservative Party front bench last week. F-H regional president Kevin Bell said the agency's digital team had been involved in website design, adding that he has known Davis for 20 years. Bell said he would not rule out providing further PR support should Davis need it.

Meanwhile, Davis' resignation has prompted Tory comms director Andy Coulson to revisit his media plans. Leader David Cameron moved quickly last week to replace Davis with shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve. But there is now widespread concern in the party about Grieve's media skills - and Coulson is said to be unconvinced that Grieve is capable of connecting with voters' concerns about crime.

'The rush was to replace David as quickly as possible with someone who knew his stuff,' said one Tory insider. 'But it has already become clear that Grieve is not going to cut it in this role. He is a great policy expert but he is not a great media performer. Now there are serious concerns internally, because what you have is someone who is not very good with the media on the topic that is most media friendly.'

PRWeek recently revealed that Coulson has drawn up plans for a summer media offensive based on a grid system. It is understood that this is being reviewed and that Cameron, not Grieve, will announce major anti-crime initiatives.

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