Julia Day, marketing & PR correspondent
Wednesday May 25, 2005

Tim Allan, the former deputy head Labour spin doctor, is almost certain to sell his private PR firm and return to Downing Street in an over-arching communications and strategy role.

He is currently thrashing out details of a new job that would give him a senior role in both communications and strategy, and friends say it is "quite likely" he will go.

Mr Allan has remained a loyal Labour supporter in his seven years in the commercial world and has long hankered after a return to the cut-and-thrust of politics.

His interest was strongly rekindled two years ago when his former boss, Alastair Campbell, clashed with the BBC over the now notorious report by Andrew Gilligan, claiming the government had deliberately sexed up the Iraq intelligence dossier that led to war.

He went on to become a regular on Newsnight, bashing the BBC and praising Lord Hutton for the report, which many considered a political whitewash and that led to the sacking of the BBC director general, Greg Dyke.

Now, only weeks after Labour secured an unprecedented third term in office, he is close to taking up an offer from Tony Blair to become the head of communications and strategy.

If the finer points of the job can be agreed upon, he will take up a role with a wider remit than that of the prime minister's communications chief, David Hill.

It would mean that Mr Allan, formerly known as the "sorcerer's apprentice" because of his closeness to Mr Campbell, would return as the sorcerer and oversee the handover of power from Mr Blair to the chancellor, Gordon Brown.

As a result it is likely that he will sell Portland - which has 15 clients including Chorion, the company that owns the rights to Noddy and Agatha Christie's novels.

It is believed that Mr Allan has received several expressions of interest in the last week and is intent on making a clean break with the commercial world if he rejoins Labour.

One option is to sell the company to Rachel Whetstone, Michael Howard's political secretary.

A return to Portland for Ms Whetstone would neatly complete a circle. She worked as a press officer for broadcaster Carlton before going to work with Mr Allan at Portland, and then moving on to help Mr Howard in his failed bid to topple the Labour government.

"In these situations, the trick is to sell it to someone who will have the confidence of the clients," said one PR expert.

A return to politics for Mr Allan at the age of 35 comes after seven years in the commercial world, first as the director of corporate communications at BSkyB and then running his own City PR agency.