Gordon Brown’s Communications Minister, who was made a peer after a brief period in Number 10, is to leave the Government, The Times has learnt.
Lord Carter of Barnes, previously Stephen Carter, hired by Mr Brown to mastermind an earlier government relaunch, is now set for a highly lucrative return to the private sector.
The former public relations executive was recruited just 18 months ago to revive the Prime Minister’s fortunes, which were flagging because of election speculation and gathering economic woes.
Mr Brown had high hopes for Lord Carter, formerly the chief executive of the City PR firm Brunswick, where he earned a reported £500,000 salary. The Prime Minister was delighted when he agreed to serve as his chief of strategy and principal adviser for just £140,000 a year.
After little more than ten months, however, he left Downing Street after falling out with Damian McBride, Mr Brown’s subsequently disgraced spin doctor. His attempts to rebrand the Prime Minister were opposed by Mr McBride and a number of other long-serving aides, who regarded him as politically naive.
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In October last year he moved from being Mr Brown’s chief of strategy to become a communications minister with a salary of around £72,000 a year and a peerage. He was given a powerful role in shaping internet and media regulation.
His departure will surprise Westminster, where Mr Brown’s enemies will see it as more evidence of an administration low on energy and ideas.
Lord Carter, 45, was listed as one of ten ministers below Lord Mandelson in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills after the reshuffle on Tuesday. He is believed to have told Mr Brown that he was willing to serve only until July and hoped to return to business after a low-key exit over the summer recess. Lord Carter declined to deny that he was planning to leave the Government after the publication of Digital Britain, a report intended to shape the future of creative industries. “I’m beavering away feverishly on my report, that’s my only preoccupation,” he told The Times. He dismissed suggestions that he had already lined up another job but failed to say whether he would still be a minister by the autumn.
The sensitive nature of his current role means political and industry opponents will be watching closely to see what he does next. His report, to be published next Tuesday, will propose measures to extend access to broadband internet services and changes to how public service broadcasting is funded. Most controversially, it will tackle the rapid growth of illegal downloads, which are hitting the revenues of the film and music industries.
The Government is thought to have backed away from proposals to require internet service providers to bar customers caught repeatedly accessing pirated material.
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Instead, insiders expect Lord Carter to recommend the introduction of premium-rate internet services that will allow users to access what they wish. Providers would then be expected to compensate music and film producers from a share of the additional revenue.
His sudden departure would theoretically give him a chance to be a candidate to replace Michael Grade as the chief executive of ITV, although any attempt by him to apply for the job would be highly controversial. An unsuccessful candidate when Mr Grade was appointed three years ago, Lord Carter has had access to commercially sensitive information about ITV’s main rivals, the BBC and Channel 4, who are trying to negotiate a partial merger to safeguard the future of the broadcaster of Big Brother.
Such an appointment would have to be approved by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which tests whether an ex-minister has been “in a position where he or she has had access to trade secrets of competitors”.
But Lord Carter, who has also previously run Ofcom, the communications regulator, is seeking a high-profile business post and some in broadcasting believe his strategic knowledge of the media means that he would be well suited to the £1 million-a-year job of running ITV. Others suggest he is eyeing a move to Brussels.