Queenswood’s Sixth Form General Studies Lecture Programme offers students the chance to engage with a wide range of eminent speakers. On
Friday 9 January 2015, the Lower and Upper Sixth enjoyed an enthralling, candid
Q&A session with Damian McBride, the controversial spin doctor, former aide
to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and now a Times columnist and author of the
bestselling political memoir Power Trip: A Decade of Policy, Plots and
Spin.

Mr McBride outlined his career path – History at Cambridge,
an ESU internship in Washington, and an early fast-tracked career in the Civil
Service, before offering an in-depth discussion about his time in the corridors
of power – first as Head of Communications at the Treasury, and later as special
advisor to Gordon Brown.

He described how he toughened up the soon-to-be Prime
Minister by hurling personal abuse at him, and gave an account of some of the
positive consequences of his work as a spin doctor.

The most compelling part of his talk dealt with his fall
from grace, when a personal email full of scandalous secrets about the
opposition was leaked to the Press. Mr McBride gave an insight into what it felt
like to be the centre of a news story, and recounted his farcical – but
successful – attempts to avoid journalists by hiding in the boots of cars.

We watched a clip of his first interview with Jeremy Paxman
– his discomfort heightened by the fact that his trousers had split! – and the
infamous footage of the protester attempting to attack him with a crazed dog on
Brighton seafront.

Mr McBride gave frank answers to some very insightful
questions from the girls – topics ranged from Ed Miliband and the Brown years,
to his views on Europe and the Iraq war.

We would like to thank Damian McBride for giving up his time to speak to the Sixth Form.