Welcome back. On a scale of Rishi Sunak interacting with the public to Ed Davey on a paddleboard, how much are you enjoying the general election campaign so far?
A few updates on last week’s column. First, Labour’s shadow secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, and his partner were guests of Hakluyt once again at their forum event in May, in what seems now to be an annual tradition for the pair. You know what they say: couples that attend the shadowy functions of intelligence-adjacent corporate strategy firms together, stay together!
One perhaps predictable consequence of publishing the last newsletter was my access to a webinar hosted by Lexington being revoked. Thankfully I’d already managed to attend another of their webinars, which led me to further evidence of Macquarie’s efforts to cosy up to Labour: a senior public affairs bod at the Vampire Kangaroo boasting on LinkedIn about chatting with Labour leader Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves at the party’s East Midlands business reception event in April.
