David Cameron text embarrassment will 'run and run'

The Prime Minister is facing embarrassment after a series of texts between him and Brooks, the former editor of The Sun, emerged over the weekend.

The correspondence includes Brooks, due to stand trial next year on charges around the recent phone hacking scandal, telling the Conservative leader she ‘cried twice’ during his conference speech.

Nick Williams, head of public affairs at Fleishman-Hillard London, said: ‘This is only the start of such revelations, which can only be damaging to David Cameron's reputation. At a time when the Government has a series of reputational issues to handle, this is the last thing that Downing Street wants to face. It will be bracing itself for further revelations that will only embarrass Cameron further.’

The discussions also show Cameron thanking Brooks for letting him ride a family horse, saying it was ‘fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun’.

Texts between the two were revealed earlier this year in the Leveson Inquiry, the findings of which are expected to come out shortly.

Kirsty Walker, who recently joined InHouse Communications as an associate director after working as lobby correspondent for the Daily Mail, said that the new texts were ‘deeply embarrassing’ for the PM, in giving further indication of the extent of the close relationship between the pair.

‘As a national newspaper editor who is supposed to be impartial, for Brooks to say she cried twice is astonishing. This is one ingredient in a number of difficulties for Cameron but what is so damaging about this story is that it is running and running.’

However, head of public affairs at Weber Shandwick Alex Deane dismissed the revelations as 'a media story, not a real story'.

This article was first published on prweek.com