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Reluctant Hero · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 5:43 pm Post subject: Another Alexander Aide To Quit

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/...n_wendy_over_referendum_uturn.php

Aide walks out on Wendy over referendum U-turn

Head of strategy was not consulted before ‘bring it on’ announcement
By Paul Hutcheon, Scottish Political Editor

WENDY ALEXANDER'S troubled leadership of the Labour party in Scotland has suffered another blow after her most senior adviser walked out after a row over her referendum U-turn.

Mike Elrick, 41, has taken "annual leave" to think about whether he wants to continue working with Labour's Holyrood leader.

A spokesman for Scottish Labour said he had not quit and said the party "fully expected" him to return.

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The mystery is the latest twist in the bizarre saga over Alexander's decision to back a referendum on independence for Scotland.

Alexander changed her party group's policy on the issue two weeks ago without telling her shadow cabinet, the party executive, or her colleagues at Westminster.

Another figure to be kept out of the loop was Elrick, her head of strategy, who only learned of the U-turn after completing the Great Edinburgh Run on Sunday, May 4 by which time Alexander had backed a referendum on live TV with the words bring it on'.

He is known to be against the policy of backing an independence referendum, which has since been watered down, and was said to be angry about how the decision was made.

Elrick has since taken three weeks' "annual leave", the timing of which party insiders say is curious because it is in the middle of the parliamentary session.

It is understood the policy adviser is using his time off to reassess his options and decide whether he wants to continue working with Alexander.

The pair are said to have a "feisty" relationship that has involved regular disagreements about tactics and strategy. The row is the latest example of Alexander's backroom staff finding it difficult to work with her.

Brian Lironi, an award-winning journalist who became a Labour spin doctor last year, quit within days of Alexander taking over as leader.

Matthew Marr, who was Alexander's personal press adviser, then quit after shouting a four-word obscenity at First Minister Alex Salmond at an awards ceremony.

Alexander's stint as a minister in the Scottish Executive was also marked by poor relations with her press team, one of whom was reported to have made a complaint against her.

It is not the first time Elrick has fallen out with his bosses in the Labour Party.A former special adviser to former Scottish secretary John Reid, he briefly quit the party in 2002, saying: "I realised that this was not the Labour Party I had joined, that something had changed over the intervening years.

"There was now a cynicism and arrogance which I had never encountered before."

He said he "tore up" his party card "in disgust", adding: "A government which came to power on a tide of optimism, promising so much, has in many ways treated its own party members and the wider public with growing contempt."

A spokesman for Scottish Labour said: "Mike Elrick is on annual leave and he is fully expected to return on June 2."

Elrick did not respond to the Sunday Herald's approaches.

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