Ex-No 10 aide gets top Europe finance lobbying job

Simon Lewis, Gordon Brown's former director of communications at Number 10, today landed the job of chief executive of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

In his new role at London-based AFME, Lewis will lobby governments and regulators on behalf of all Europe's leading financial institutions.

He has previously held top public-relations posts at Vodafone and Centrica. He joined Buckingham Palace in 1998 and drew up a new PR strategy for the royal family in the wake of Princess Diana's death.

Lewis, brother of former Telegraph editor Will, is known as a suave operator with impeccable contacts but was allegedly referred to as "the gas man" during his spell at the Palace having joined from Centrica, owner of British Gas.