Grayling's Hughes to exit for London 2012 position

The position, the top PA role for the 2012 Olympics, reports to director of comms and public affairs Jackie Brock-Doyle.

Hughes declined to comment on the role, referring PRWeek's calls to Locog. Grayling refused to comment, while Locog PROs said they were unable to comment in the absence of ­Brock-Doyle, who was on holiday as PRWeek went to press.

Brock-Doyle is the most senior communicator at Locog, having been promoted in the wake of the exit of Mike Lee (PRWeek, 2 Nov 2005).

Lee - who worked on the successful bid for the 2012 Games - has since founded his own agency, Vero Communications (PRWeek, 17 February), where he is working alongside ex-London 2012 head of government
relations John Zerafa, who joined up with Lee five months ago (PRWeek, 10 March). Hughes would effectively be a replacement for Zerafa, in a role that would see her putting her government contacts to good use.

Before Grayling, Hughes was at Westminster Strategy, where she worked with Lee. She was ­also private secretary to then sports minister Tony Banks until 1999.

Locog needs to maintain cross-party support for its work, and its top PA job ­involves liaison with stakeholders across Whitehall, Westminster and the Mayor's office, plus concerned local authorities and community groups.

Hughes would join in the wake of the arrival of Joanna Manning-Cooper, who is to become head of PR and
media at Locog. She joins from the Financial Times' top comms role (PRWeek, 14 July). Locog is led by chair Lord Sebastian Coe and CEO Paul Deighton, and works with the Olympic Delivery Authority.