Murray inadvertently puts her foot in it, chiefly over semantics during a TV news interview involving a party launch of her "Fourth Sector Policy initiative."
The interviewer goes on to suggests that the PM is a lame duck and a liability to the party. Nicola stumbles over the question suggesting that the PM is the "best man for the job" before changing it to the "best person", although she also confesses to wanting to see a female leader "at some point".
Meanwhile the PM is on a world tour, which suggests to some of Nicola's staffers that he might be stepping down. This doesn't bode well for the DoSAC department as it is feared Nicola will lose her job in a re-shuffle and the likes of Olly Reader and Glen Cullen (her senior advisors) could also be seeing the door marked "exit"
Cullen, in fact, is already making plans to stand for government as an MP if he can get sufficient support from party members and Murray herself.
Director of Communications, Malcolm Tucker arrives at the DoSAC department frustrated and angered at the circus going on in the PM's absence at No. 10, suggesting that the PM may well step down very soon.
Just to compound both Nicola's incompetence and Tucker's frustration, the BBC interview is broadcast suggesting that a new leadership bid could happen and that Nicola has put her name forward.
Nicola tries to put the record straight but instead of saying the "PM is the right man OF the moment" she bleats "right man FOR the moment", which drives the media into a frenzy and Tucker into a fireball of anger.
A well focused episode demonstrating the subtleties of how to deal with the media. A word out of context or a sentence provoking a double meaning can have dire repercussions for the minister, the Department and the Government as a whole. This is particularly apposite for Glen Cullen, who has seen his chances of winning party support to stand as a MP shatter because he is closely associated with the clueless Murray.
It also demonstrates once again how inept Murray (played by Rebecca Front) is at her job. But then again her predecessor, Hugh Abbott, was equally out of his depth leading the Department.
You also have to feel just a smidge sympathetic for the volatile Tucker (played brilliantly by Peter Capaldi) as he tries to keep all the spinning plates from crashing into a million pieces. But his venting and bullying appear to be having the opposite affect on his staff as more and more mistakes begin to emerge.
Perhaps Tucker himself might find himself out in the wilderness as being part of the problem than a solution!
The interviewer goes on to suggests that the PM is a lame duck and a liability to the party. Nicola stumbles over the question suggesting that the PM is the "best man for the job" before changing it to the "best person", although she also confesses to wanting to see a female leader "at some point".
Meanwhile the PM is on a world tour, which suggests to some of Nicola's staffers that he might be stepping down. This doesn't bode well for the DoSAC department as it is feared Nicola will lose her job in a re-shuffle and the likes of Olly Reader and Glen Cullen (her senior advisors) could also be seeing the door marked "exit"
Cullen, in fact, is already making plans to stand for government as an MP if he can get sufficient support from party members and Murray herself.
Director of Communications, Malcolm Tucker arrives at the DoSAC department frustrated and angered at the circus going on in the PM's absence at No. 10, suggesting that the PM may well step down very soon.
Just to compound both Nicola's incompetence and Tucker's frustration, the BBC interview is broadcast suggesting that a new leadership bid could happen and that Nicola has put her name forward.
Nicola tries to put the record straight but instead of saying the "PM is the right man OF the moment" she bleats "right man FOR the moment", which drives the media into a frenzy and Tucker into a fireball of anger.
A well focused episode demonstrating the subtleties of how to deal with the media. A word out of context or a sentence provoking a double meaning can have dire repercussions for the minister, the Department and the Government as a whole. This is particularly apposite for Glen Cullen, who has seen his chances of winning party support to stand as a MP shatter because he is closely associated with the clueless Murray.
It also demonstrates once again how inept Murray (played by Rebecca Front) is at her job. But then again her predecessor, Hugh Abbott, was equally out of his depth leading the Department.
You also have to feel just a smidge sympathetic for the volatile Tucker (played brilliantly by Peter Capaldi) as he tries to keep all the spinning plates from crashing into a million pieces. But his venting and bullying appear to be having the opposite affect on his staff as more and more mistakes begin to emerge.
Perhaps Tucker himself might find himself out in the wilderness as being part of the problem than a solution!
