Showman Roy bows out centre stage with Tony Blair
Jan 14 2003 | |
By Will Mapplebeck, The Journal | |
If there was a fitting end to Roy Stockdale's career as a Government press officer, it came just before Christmas. Roy is proud to have worked under six prime ministers and has met all but one of them during his career, which has spanned administrations from Harold Wilson's to Tony Blair's. But the present incumbent of Number 10 was the only premier he had not met, until Mr Blair came to Hartlepool on December 20, just days before Roy's retirement. Roy was not scheduled to organise the visit, but received a call from a colleague that morning asking him to bring a digital camera to record Mr Blair's visit. It was a classic sting organised by his press office colleagues. Roy arrived to find the digital camera he had brought from Newcastle was turned on him. Soon a picture of him shaking hands with the PM was being taken and Roy had time to chat with the latest occupant of Number 10. Roy says: "The Prime Minister was told that I had served the Government for 34 years and he thanked me. "I didn't know what to say. But I eventually said that it had been quite an adventure, starting with Harold Wilson and ending up with him." Roy's life as a Government press officer has been quite an adventure. He's been present at many major policy announcements and has helped organise everything from royal visits to health and safety awards. He started, back in 1968, as an assistant press officer with what was then called the Central Office of Information and arrived at its Newcastle offices in 1982. Before his arrival on Tyneside Roy's civil service career had been eventful. He helped organised Michael Heseltine's first visit to Liverpool when he was appointed minister for Merseyside after the Toxteth riots in the early 1980s. It could have been a boring meet and greet affair, but Roy decided to do something different. Wouldn't it be great to get the new minister crossing the Mersey on the famous ferry? Inquiries were made and before long the future Tory leadership challenger was setting sail across the river and was photographed with the famous Liverpudlian skyline behind him. "Later that night on News at 10, there was Michael Heseltine on board the Mersey ferry. It was magic," says Roy proudly. Roy has based a career on trying to do things a bit differently and tried to approach everything, even the dullest Government event, from a fresh angle. He says: "I am an enthusiast and I get annoyed with people who are not. If I do something, I want to give it my best possible shot." Roy's enthusiasm did not subside when he arrived in the North-East. In his early days in the region he was told to publicise a Department of Employment jobseekers exhibition that was touring the country in an InterCity 125 train carriage. Roy didn't want to do it by the book and eventually hit on the idea of hiring a steam engine to pull the exhibition into Newcastle's Central Station. Actually getting the engine and the mountains of coal it would need for its journey presented problems so he rang the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and then managed to secure a driver and a stoker from InterCity. The only problem after that was the coal. A quick telephone call to the National Coal Board resulted in three tonnes of the stuff being delivered. Roy realised his dream of having the exhibition on board a steam engine, and as a result the event enjoyed substantial local coverage. Roy says: "When the exhibition came to the North-East it had the highest public attendance of any region, and that included London Euston." And unusual modes of transport were also involved in two other big press events masterminded by Roy. He managed to hire a tall ship for the press launch of the first North-East Tall Ships Race in 1986 and even took journalists out to sea on board a Royal Navy ship for a forces recruitment event. His role as a Government press officer has also involved him donning a Victorian frock coat to play North-East railway pioneer Robert Stephenson and armaments tycoon Lord Armstrong. And he also played an important role publicising Government efforts to deal with the foot-and-mouth crisis and the previous fire brigade strike. After such an eventful career, how does Roy feel about his impending retirement? He has no big plans, apart from spending more time with his Jehovah's Witness Christian ministry. He also wants to do more walking with wife Janet and carry on collecting antiques. Roy says: "I will feel happy and sad when I retire. "Happy that I can do what I want but sad that I will be leaving friends and colleagues who mean an awful lot to me. "I'll also miss my relationship with the media. There will be occasions where I will see something on the television or see a big reported event and I'd think that if I was still working I would be involved in that." |