Spin masters out of control

The Tory communications director has been reluctantly thrust into the spotlight when it emerged this week that journalists allegedly paid for private investigators to conduct multiple illegal ‘hacks’ on mobile phones at the time he was editor of News of the World from 2003-2007

The former head of strategy for Gordon Brown was forced to resign as a Downing Street aide in April 2009 when it emerged that he had sent an e-mail proposing a smear campaign against senior Conservative politicians

Tony Blair's closest adviser was engulfed in controversy during 2003 when the government hit back at accusations of 'sexing up' evidence for the invasion of Iraq. He resigned as spokesman shortly after giving evidence to the Hutton inquiry into the suicide of David Kelly, a government scientist accused of being the source of leaks

The former special adviser at the Department for Transport famously issued a memo within hours of the September 11 terrorist attacks, saying it was 'a very good day' to bury any bad departmental news. She apologised and kept her job until being forced to resign the following year. In 2003 she began training for a new career as a primary school teacher

The former head of communications at the Department for Transport became embroiled in controversy in February 2002 when he warned ministerial aide Jo Moore that Princess Margaret's funeral should not be used as a cover for releasing bad news. The memo leaked and both he and Ms Moore ended up resigning

The spokesman for Gordon Brown at the Treasury resigned in January 1999 amid speculation over the source of leaks that had led to Peter Mandelson being forced out of cabinet the previous month. Lord Mandelson, then trade secretary, had taken a secret loan from the paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson to buy a house

During the 1990s Lord Mandelson was part of a powerful triumvirate - along with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair - which modernised the Labour party. His skills as a backroom fixer and master of spin were undisputed. But he was forced to resign from cabinet a second time in January 2001 after newspapers reported he tried to help Millennium Dome donors Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja obtain British passports

Margaret Thatcher's press secretary, when she was prime minister from 1979-90, was notorious for briefing against the Tory government's ministers. He once described John Biffen as a 'semi-detached' member of government, just before he was sacked as leader of the Commons