Chris Lewis: the PR boss backing Penny Mordaunt to be PM

theguardian.com:

On Wednesday night, dozens of journalists and political aides joined the Tory leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt at a drinks event in the garden of Westminster Abbey. Guests such as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK enjoyed plenty of wine and were joined by costume actors dressed as traditional British icons such as Beefeaters, Paddington Bear and Edina from Absolutely Fabulous.

Mordaunt was the star of the party, which was held by a charity run by the multimillionaire PR agency boss Chris Lewis, an ally of Mordaunt over the last decade.

Even amid growing public interest in the potential future prime minister, little attention has been paid to 61-year-old Lewis – a man who lists his job title as the “Grand Enchilada” and writes business leadership books.

Last year Lewis co-authored a book with Mordaunt that laid out their manifesto for reviving Britain post-Covid and post-Brexit. Titled Greater: Britain After the Storm, it has already created one minor skirmish in the Tory culture wars after forces on the Conservative right objected to its criticism of the 1970s BBC sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, which featured actors in blackface.

The book contains a Trainspotting-esque list setting out their joint pitch for why modern Britain is better than the UK of the 70s over several pages, including: “No borstal. No body odour. No accusations of wearing poof juice (aftershave). No male cosmetics of any kind. No bath once a week whether you need it or not. No snotty sleeves. No skid marks. No priapic priests. No Catholic guilt. No ‘fallen women’. No ‘Loony Bin’. No rhythm method. No Kotex Wonderform menstruation belts. No circle-stitched bras. No imminent threat of nuclear deaths. No Black Panther. No Moors murderers. No Yorkshire Ripper.