Woke up to the surprising news that John Williamson, the prime minister's director of communications, is to leave that post after only a few months to seek a chance to become a member of Parliament. The Telegraph-Journal's Chris Morris reports today that Williamson is leaving the PMO to seek the Conservative nomination in New Brunswick Southwest, a riding that's been held forever by Greg Thompson, the former cabinet minister who last fall announced he would not seek re-election.
Williamson was appointed to the PMO in only in August and started a short while after that. He succeeded Kory Teneycke, who spent about a year in that job. Teneycke was preceded by Sandra Buckler who held the job from shortly after the 2006 election until the summer of 2008. Buckler is now chief of staff to trade minister Peter Van Loan.
Harper's other "d-comms" as either prime minister or leader of the opposition include William Stairs (recently returned to the PMO as director of issues management), Geoff Norquay (now at Earnscliffe Strategy Group), and Jim Armour (at the Canadian Medical Association).
The one constant on Harper's communications team all through those various directors of communication has been Dimitri Soudas, who currently holds the title of Associate Director, Communications, and Press Secretary. Soudas and Harper's principal secretary Ray Novak are the two Harper aides who have been with him longest.