Chris Blackhurst, a former editor of the Independent, is to join election guru Lynton Crosby’s corporate and political consultancy.
Blackhurst will join Crosby Textor Fullbrook full time in a senior executive role.
“I’m fascinated by the work that they do,” said Blackhurst. “I think I can make a good contribution. I have been in media for a long time. The high level strategic advice they offer to clients appealed to me.”
Crosby is best known as the architect of election wins for the prime minister, David Cameron, and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, but Blackhurst says the consultancy has a burgeoning corporate arm.
“People assume the firm only deals with Cameron and Johnson,” he said. “But they have a large and growing international corporate practice at a high level and that appeals to me a lot. The challenge of doing something different after 33 years in journalism was appealing.”
Blackhurst still has a writing contract with the Independent and is in the process of writing his final column before leaving to join CTF. His move is not connected with the timing of Evgeny Lebedev’s decision to close the Independent print titles.
“The news saddened me and shows the fragility of the industry,” he said.
In January last year Blackhurst left his senior editorial role at the Independent’s sister paper the London Evening Standard.
