Nick Clelland and I are probably not ideological bedfellows. On the surface of it, I’m something of a would-be-woke, left-of-centre type; based on the people he has worked with and for over the years, Clelland might appear to be more of a “facts don’t care about your feelings”, centre-leaning-ever-so-slightly-right kind of guy. 

Of course, as a communications adviser and political strategist, Clelland is highly attuned to feelings. Persuading groups of people to support an idea or to vote for a party requires a canny ability to read the room (notably, Clelland also used to be a DJ). He had a stint as a parliamentarian early in his career, but mostly his role as a self-styled “political animal” has been to spin: at times for politicians in New Zealand and the UK, but mostly for the DA and the Western Cape government. ..

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