Cambridge graduate Olivia Oates is one of the brainiest Spads in government. Long associated with housing secretary Robert Jenrick, she was his parliamentary assistant for two years before her star rose rapidly at the Conservative Research Department at party headquarters. Initially a Spad to Lords leader Baroness Evans, Number Ten came calling and Oates was a key figure briefing senior cabinet ministers ahead of important media interviews such as Today and Question Time. Now at the Ministry of Housing as policy Spad to Jenrick, Oates was the direct replacement in Johnson’s first reshuffle for her now-fiancé, Treasury Spad Liam Booth-Smith.
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