Sleazebuster who stood her ground
HELEN MacNamara’s glittering career in the civil service effectively ended last month when it emerged she had taken a top job with the Premier League.
It is not even a year since she was appointed as deputy to the Cabinet Secretary, in what many saw as a stepping stone to the top job.
She reportedly fell out of favour after refusing to bow to Downing Street pressure and clear Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. Instead, Whitehall’s ‘sleazebuster-in-chief’ had stood her ground.
After studying history at Clare College, Cambridge, Miss MacNamara originally set out to become a web entrepreneur.
She went on to feature in a list of 35 women leaders under 35 to watch, but later recalled: ‘I wasn’t really interested in money, and that actually is a very significant failing if you’re trying to run a business. I was interested in doing interesting things and having a nice time and working with people.’
She entered the civil service in 2002, joining the Department for Culture, Media and Sport where she played a key role in London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics. One Tory minister described the mother of four as ‘a perfect official, fair-minded, doesn’t play games, will always try to get at the truth, capable of bringing sense out of five-sided talks’.
Her husband Alex Towers, a former colleague, is now director of policy and public affairs at BT. Miss MacNamara herself has been hired as director of policy and corporate affairs for the Premier League.