Carol Fisher, chief executive of COI Communications (the administrative interface between the British government and its roster of advertising and marketing agencies), resigned Friday – three months after her line of reporting was switched to Alastair Campbell, Downing Street's director of communications and strategy, a figure seen by many as Prime Minister Blair’s eminence gris.
However, despite speculation that this triggered her resignation, it is unlikely to have been Fisher’s main motivation for quitting. Her contract expired in April, suggesting that she and the government were unable to agree terms for renewal.
She is leaving with no other job in prospect, purportedly because she deems the time to be right to return to the private sector. A Cabinet Office spokesperson claimed her resignation was a surprise, adding: “She has done an enormous amount and wants to go back to the commercial world.”
Data sourced from: Independent.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
