January 28, 2008
Our friends in the north?
My colleague Jim Pickard, who has just joined our lobby team, is proving to be a tremendous asset.
Just today he spotted that James Purnell, the newly promoted work and pensions secretary, has a doppelgänger — Daniel Craig, the current James Bond.
The thought of Mr Purnell swashbuckling evil villains and bedding nubile Russians may be more than some can stomach.
We prefer to think of him as the young George ‘Geordie’ Peacock in Our Friends in the North, the seminal TV programme following the fortunes of four young idealists.
Indeed several of the cast (pictured on the right) seem to bear a striking resemblance to rising stars in Gordon Brown’s administration.
At the back with the helmet hair-cut and cool stare is none other than Andy Burnham, the new culture secretary (seen here on the left).
And on the far left is Jeremy Heywood, the former banker and Blair aide who was made the Downing Street permanent secretary last week. The best picture I can find of the real Jeremy Heywood is on the left.
Now, the only character left is Mary, who becomes a Labour MP in the series (which, incidentally, we highly recommend watching).
We have failed to come up with any current Labour figures who look like her. Jim suggested Caroline Flint but he obviously hadn’t seen her properly. Can you do any better?
