A FORMER aide to Theresa May has lifted the lid on the “toxic” atmosphere inside No 10 – where her former top advisers Nick and Fiona were “rude, abusive and childish”.
Katie Perrior, who was Director of Communications at Downing Street under the PM until she called the election, reaveled the extent of the dysfunctional team behind Mrs May.
This morning both aides have quit their jobs after Tories warned there could be a leadership challenge if they did not step aside.
Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill – the PM’s joint chiefs of staff – have been in the firing line for helping to push her towards the shambolic election campaign which saw the Tories lose 13 seats yesterday.
Today Ms Perrior said there was a “toxic” atmosphere at the top – and that the PM and her team had not adjusted between running the home office and running the country.
She told Radio 4’s Today programme: “Actually she needed to broaden her circle of advisers, she needed to have a few grey hairs in there who have been around the block a bit, who could say don’t do that, don’t make enemies when you don’t need to.”
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Who are Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill?
Nick Timothy: BORN in Birmingham, the steelworker’s son, 37, first worked for Theresa May as a Home Office special adviser.
Nick was appointed her joint chief of staff last July.
He is said to have had a key role in the Tory manifesto and was blamed for the catastrophic “dementia tax”.
He lists his hobbies as Aston Villa and Graham Greene.
Fiona Hill: SHARP-tongued Fiona Hill switched to politics from journalism, having worked for The Scotsman and Sky News.
The divorcée, 44, from Greenock, Renfrewshire, was a fierce May loyalist when a Home Office special adviser.
Sidelined after a spat with Michael Gove in 2014, she returned in July as Mrs May’s communications chief.
And she told of how the PM failed to overrule her advisers – even when they were spouting ridiculous ideas.
And that Mr Timothy “used to love reminding people what a hierachy was and how it worked” – he has worked with Mrs May since her days at the Home Office.
she said: “The chiefs of staff were great street fighters but poor political leaders.
“Great leaders lead by bringing people with them, not alienating them before having even digested breakfast.
“What I could never work out was whether Mrs May condoned their behaviour and turned a blind eye or didn’t understand how destructive they both were. For all the love of a hierarchy, the chiefs treated Cabinet members exactly the same — rude, abusive, childish behaviour.”
A campaign source told The Sun last night: “They were so complacent, they thought they had it in the bag all along.
“They didn’t show anyone the manifesto, so nobody could properly brief it, and we lost control then and there.
“Decisions were taken at the very top and very little ever shared.
“Where was our retail offer? What were we saying to the Jams (Just About Managings)?
“It was all about Brexit, and that’s why we lost.”
One campaigner branded Hill “fickle, contrary, spiteful, pointlessly confrontational, hypocritical and cowardly at heart”.
They added: “That has not served the PM well. She is the PM’s Achilles heel.”
One source said Timothy and Hill “constantly bickered”.
Another minister said on polling day: “Is it the end of the Nick and Fi show? Everybody wants it to be but she [Theresa May] is very stubborn.”
Other spin doctors were quick to turn their fire upwards.
One said: “There was no strategy and so we were flying blind.
“We were asked to go out and defend things without any ammunition and were totally cut off from the nest at the top.”
There was also an acceptance the campaign had dropped the ball on failing to spot the surge of pro-Corbyn youngsters turning out to vote.
“Robotic” Mrs May’s dire campaign was dominated by a disastrous social care shake-up.
Insiders also blamed the excessive length of the two-month campaign that allowed Labour to tear chunks from her carefully-crafted image.
It left her humiliated over ducking debates, policy U-turns and accusations of dodging the press.
One critic slammed the “arrogance” of running a “presidential campaign when you don’t have a presidential candidate”.
And an MP claimed: “It started out as all about Theresa, so she got all the flack. If the control freaks around her had allowed the Cabinet out, they could have soaked up some of the hits.”