Space / Space centre director role for ex-Downing Street press secretary
A FORMER press secretary at No.10 Downing Street is supporting SaxaVord Spaceport in a non-executive director role.
CEO Frank Strang said Allegra Stratton is assisting the spaceport “in our drive to lower spaceport emissions” as well as communications.
He described her as a “respected journalist at Bloomberg with 20 years experience in print and TV working at the BBC and ITV News”.
“She also has experience of government having worked as director of strategic communications at the treasury and press secretary at No. 10,” Strang added.
“She is also widely acknowledged for her work on the successful UN climate summit in Glasgow, COP26.”
However she resigned from her role as spokesperson for COP26 in 2021 after a leaked video which showed her joining in on jokes about a Downing Street party during Covid restrictions while at a press conference rehearsal.
Stratton is also the co-founder of Zeroism, which is described as a company which helps organisations to understand their climate risk, “deliver actionable transition plans” and communicate their progress.
Meanwhile Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael this week called on the government to capitalise on the UK’s current lead in the vertical launch space sector, while leading a debate on the industry in parliament.
He said SaxaVord currently holds 60 per cent of Western Europe’s licensed vertical launch capacity, and called for both the UK and Scottish governments to back the Unst site as it continues its work.
The UK Government has already pledged £10 million to the private company.
Carmichael said: “One expression I keep hearing from people in the sector is ‘space is hard’, even though there is a strong feeling that the final pieces are almost in place for launches soon to begin in earnest.
“That is why the UK Government must play their role and be a still more active supporter of the sector as we come into this critical period.
“Focusing on the UK vertical launch sector and SaxaVord itself, will the minister reaffirm the government’s commitment to supporting the Shetland launch site as further tests and launches go on?
“I would appreciate whatever engagement the minister and officials can make in partnership with the Scottish Government so that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet. It is in all our interests to ensure that this gets off the ground—pun intended—so that we can start to witness and leverage the benefits to the national economy.”
Responding, science and technology minister Chris Bryant said: “We are ongoing in our commitment, and that commitment has not been shaken by any anomalies that might have been seen on launch.
“The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that we need to work with the devolved Administration. I am very keen to have conversations with our colleagues in Scotland, my counterparts in Scotland, and of course with the Scotland Office.
“We need to work as a united government to achieve what we want in the field.
“We need to be absolutely clear about what we are seeking to achieve, and about what the whole consortium of businesses and players in the space field want to achieve, so that we get really good value for money for the UK economy.
“It would be a terrible dereliction of a significant economic and strategic opportunity for the UK if we were somehow or other to abandon this field or diminish our commitment.”
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