Lee Cain
Downing Street Director of Communications
In office
24 July 2019 – 31 December 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byRobbie Gibb
Succeeded byJames Slack
Personal details
Born
Lee Edward Cain

1981 (age 42–43)
EducationOrmskirk Grammar School
Alma materStaffordshire University

Lee Edward Cain (born 1981)[1] is a British public relations professional and former journalist who served as Downing Street Director of Communications under Boris Johnson from July 2019 until the end of 2020.[2]

Education

Cain attended Ormskirk Grammar School and graduated from Staffordshire University.[3]

Career

Cain began his career as a journalist at the Gloucester Citizen and The Sun before moving to the Daily Mirror. While working for the Mirror in the run-up to the 2010 general election,[4] Cain was used to taunt David Cameron and other Conservative MPs dressed as a chicken.[5][6]

After leaving his position as a senior media advisor for Slater and Gordon Lawyers, Cain moved into politics to become head of broadcast for the Vote Leave campaign.[7] In addition to serving at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove, he briefly worked for Theresa May before leaving to work with Johnson while he was serving as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.[8]

Cain served as the Downing Street Director of Communications from 2019 to 2020. In an article about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Johnson was hospitalised, it was commented that "Lee was running the country, genuinely, for quite some time."[9] In November 2020, Cain resigned from his position, and stated that he would leave office at the end of the year.[10][11] Cain had previously been mentioned as a possible selection for Downing Street Chief of Staff.[12]

In 2021, Cain started his own PR communications agency, Charlesbye.[13] In 2021, The Guardian reported the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) warned that Cain could be seen to offering "unfair" access to clients given his former role.[14]

In the 2023 Channel 4 docudrama Partygate, Cain was played by Craig Parkinson.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Lee Edward Cain, "Charlesbye Limited", Companies House. Retrieved 15 December 2021
  2. ↑ Phillips, Jenni (24 July 2019). "Former Citizen reporter becomes new PM's Communications chief". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "Lee Cain is tipped as No 10's next chief of staff, but who is he?". The Guardian. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Forrest, Adam (12 November 2020). "Who is Lee Cain? A closer look at spin doctor who caused No 10 uproar". The Independent. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  5. ↑ Rawlinson, Kevin (30 July 2019). "Boris Johnson's spin doctor 'used to dress up as Tory-ridiculing Mirror Chicken'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  6. ↑ McTague, Tom (30 July 2019). "I, Too, Have Dressed Up as a Chicken to Harass British Politicians". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "The people trying to make Boris Johnson prime minister". The Independent. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Who are Boris Johnson's key advisers?". BBC News. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  9. ↑ Cain, Lee (12 March 2021). "'No 10 was a plague pit': how Covid brought Westminster to its knees". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Morrison, Sean (11 November 2020). "PM's director of communications Lee Cain resigns after power struggle". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Lee Cain: Prime minister's director of communications resigns after power struggle". Sky News. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (11 November 2020). "Vote Leave's Lee Cain tipped as next Downing Street chief of staff". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Harrington, John (11 October 2021). "Ex-Downing Street comms chief Lee Cain's first clients revealed". PR Week. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  14. ↑ Davies, Rob; Mason, Rowena (11 November 2021). "Boris Johnson's ex-aide was warned by regulator over access as a consultant". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  15. ↑ "Meet the cast of Partygate on Channel 4". Radio Times. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
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