Conservative press officer wins plaudits for election campaign PR stunt

James Drewer came up with the idea of sending two teams along to Trafalgar Square to hold up ‘Vote For Change' placards yesterday - as Gordon Brown made his way to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to dissolve parliament.

A senior Tory source said: ‘At very short notice, we assembled a team of volunteers with large letters saying Vote For Change pointed skywards as Brown drove down the Mall. You could see them very clear from the Sky helicopter.

'At CCHQ we were watching the live footage, there was a huge cheer when our slogan came up on the screen.'

Drewer began working at the party's Millbank HQ in February, having previously been an account director at the Bell Pottinger Group. Before Bell Pottinger, he worked as a government relations consultant at the Royal College of Nursing.

With only a handful of Tory press officers likely to land jobs in Downing Street should the Tories win the election, and the press team at CCHQ expected to be cut, Drewer's wheeze could stand him in good stead for the future.

The senior Tory claimed: ‘The one thing a PM can usually rely on is his trip to the Palace going without a hitch, but thanks to one of our press officers his day was comprehensively spoiled.'