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Darren Murphy, managing director of APCO Worldwide’s London office, provides expertise in crisis communication, strategic communication and government relations as well as a unique insight into health care decision making at the highest level. Mr. Murphy is a former adviser to the Blair government, a position he held from May 1997 to September 2005. As special adviser for political communications in the prime minister’s office he provided Tony Blair with strategic and political advice on all media issues, was responsible for media planning and scheduling, message development and contributing to the content of Prime Minister Blair’s speeches, articles and interviews. Most recently, he was head of government relations and external affairs for AstraZeneca UK.
Mr. Murphy’s work with Prime Minister Blair ranged from dealing with the political and reputation fall-out from the Hutton Inquiry to helping plan and execute Labour’s 2005 general election media campaign and attendance as part of the British delegation to the successful G8 summit in Gleneagles. Before joining Number 10, Mr. Murphy spent four years as special adviser to Alan Milburn, secretary of state for health, where he gave counsel on all aspects of strategic and political communication. During that time he advised on both the content and delivery of the 10- year National Health Service Plan as well as handling media for a number of health crisis issues and events. He was part of UK delegations to the World Health Organization, the European Health Council and the G7 Ministerial Group on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attack. Mr. Murphy joined the government in 1997 as special adviser to the deputy prime minister in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions advising on local government, housing and regeneration policy.
Prior to the 1997 general election, Mr. Murphy was an economic development consultant working for a range of organizations in the public and private sectors including corporations, local and regional development agencies, universities and the BBC. He was an elected member of Newcastle City Council from 1991 to 1997 where he was chairman of the City’s Education Committee and a member of the Court of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is a former director of the Newcastle Theatre Royal.
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