Carrie Symonds’s best friend handed £350-a-day government role without it being advertised

[SerendipityJane]

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/carrie-symondss-best-friend-handed-350-a-day-government-role-without-it-being-advertised/05/12/

Allegations of chumocracy were circulating once again today after it was revealed Carrie Symonds’s best friend had been handed a lucrative contract with the government without the role being advertised.

According to reports in The Critic Nimco Ali was made an adviser on tackling violence against women and girls in October.

She is paid £350 a day for around two days’ work a month for a role that was not advertised through any competitive application process, a freedom of information request revealed.

(contd)

I dont really know whether advisor roles are advertised, and I suspect in all Governments its more likely to go to friends or those on the friendship network. Look at Lousie Casey - has she ever actually achieved anything, but endlessly gets posts.

However I think in this instance Nimko Ali isn't the best qualified. There are well established African Women's groups who have been campaigning on this for years, have a better track record and lots of research.

However, as with many other issues around feminism, if you are young and photogenic the press reports on you (and a bit about the issue). But if you are actually a campaigning women's groups who has earned lots of respect in the relevant communities you will be ignored.

So this is a media friendly choice. And of course she has made it clear she is a conservative.

Cant really see Boris or Carrie appointing well qualified women who are publicly not conservative.

Personally I cant think of anything less dignified than to get a job through being somebody's friend.

But I expect there will be lots of nice photo shoots and the odd press release.

Rather than say a day event where the women who are actually working on this issue on the frontline are invited in to bring this new "advisor" up to speed.

Can anybody supply the job advert that Dominic Cummings successfully applied for? Genuine question.

Is this story more about Carrie's influence rather than the appointee ?

However, as with many other issues around feminism, if you are young and photogenic

Nimco Ali is 37. I'm sorry you think she is too pretty to do a good job here.

@sashagabadon yes, that was my point!

Lucrative?

£350 per day is very little in the contracting world.

It's like a Junior Project Support Assistant sort of level.

TBH...

If anything...the worst bit here is that they're only paying her £350 per day.

It seems far too little. I wonder what an equivalent white man would get?

I don’t understand why this has been picked up on. It makes perfect sense

But most jobs are never advertised. The majority of jobs overall are found through networking. It's only in the public sector that people find this objectionable.

It’s funny that the Guardian considers this news. On a totally unrelated note, Owen Jones was very pissed off with her for not agreeing with him and not being left wing.

So, the definition of ‘newsworthy’ at the Guardian is now WWOJD? Lots of medical professionals raising concerns that children aren’t being given appropriate support and are being misdiagnosed? Who cares. On Owen Jones’s shit list? Above the fold.

twitter.com/owenjones84/status/1335174509171781633

Is this story more about Carrie's influence rather than the appointee ?

Probably. However, it’s worth noting that she’s been influential within conservative politics since long before Boris took over as leader.

In all other circumstances this kind of appointment would be so unremarkable the media wouldn't be arsed to comment. Maybe a few lines in Private Eye.

However, the story here is, in a Tory government, a white woman uses influence to get a black woman appointed to a post. Which means we're supposed to be outraged.

Nimco Ali is extremely well qualified for this role. £350 per day is less than my hourly top rate charge out for clients.

Precisely. It's not a lot of money.

I think it's pretty shit to imply she only got this job because of her mate. She's well qualified, passionate and experienced...and not charging a fortune!

@AuntyPasta

It’s funny that the Guardian considers this news. On a totally unrelated note, Owen Jones was very pissed off with her for not agreeing with him and not being left wing.

So, the definition of ‘newsworthy’ at the Guardian is now WWOJD? Lots of medical professionals raising concerns that children aren’t being given appropriate support and are being misdiagnosed? Who cares. On Owen Jones’s shit list? Above the fold.

So, Johnson was homophobic, and Owen Jones made it a woman's fault.

And how many times has Jones ignored bigotry because someone he liked was saying it?!

Let's see where OJ is in 5-10 years. Let's see where he is a few years downstream from The Guardian having given up on a stance of having to be on the right side of history. Or not having done this and as a result shutting down.

Let's see OJ making a living in the marketplace without having The Guardian as a guaranteed platfrom.

He might target history programming. He managed to swing a spot talking about Anne Boleyn and the court of Henry VIII.

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3802095806476908&id=155538241132701&m_entstream_source=video_home&player_suborigin=entry_point&player_format=permalink&anchor_composer=false

I have no problem with this. She is a tireless campaigner for women’s rights and is well qualified for the role.
As an aside, I believe Nimco Ali became friends with Boris first and Carrie later, so if anyone should be blamed for giving a job to a chum, it’s BoJo. This just reads as part of the Carrie Symonds smear campaign and thus very anti-feminist.

If they'd advertised it, it would have gone to a man whose expertise was in business consultancy and he'd cost £3,500 per day.

I'm very disappointed her pay is so low.

My company charges me out for £1300 per day for doing far less important work. £350 is cheap.

Utterly disingenuous tweet from Ally Fogg (yes I know his opinions on anything are of little interest- I cane across it in the context of twitter blocklists)

He is correct, as several posters have said, that £350, is peanuts for this. I don't believe for 1 minute however that £350 for a day's consultancy work is "a fortune" for him.

NOT NEWS