Jo Moore: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Jo Moore is a British political advisor who briefly obtained fame when working as advisor to then Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Byers. On September 11 2001, the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Moore sent an email to her department suggesting that the day would be "a very good day we want to get out anything we want to bury" because the media would be pre-occupied with reporting events from New York and Washington D.C.. This caused a scandal when it emerged into the public eye the following month. Though many opposition politicans and media commentators called for Moore's resignation, as well that of Byers, they both survived.

The inference was drawn that Moore had a poor relationship with the career civil servants in the DTLR. A parliamentary committee later described her role as going beyond that of other special advisers, and an official of the civil service union the FDA described it to that committee as a "classic textbook case of bullying". In November the department appointed a new Director of Communications, Martin Sixsmith. It was hoped he would improve relations.

However in February 2002 the row flared up again when a leak to the press alleged that Moore had made further attempts to "bury" bad news on the day of a major event. It was backed up by a copy of an email from Martin Sixsmith saying "Princess Margaret is being buried [on Friday]. I will absolutely not allow anything else to be". The leak was made on Wednesday 13 February and the story broke that evening as the Daily Express and Daily Mirror went to press. Both Moore and Sixsmith said the email was a fabrication, but on Thursday 14 February it emerged that only the precise form of words leaked was fabricated. Sixsmith had sent an email to Byers, and copied it to Moore; the leak had rewritten it to seem more damaging to Moore.

On Friday 15 February - the day of the funeral - Jo Moore resigned from her position. The degree of media attention focused on her, and the ongoing conflict with permanent officials had left her unable to do her job. Byers accepted that she had not, on this occasion, suggested the "burial" of bad news. Sixsmith also left the department, albeit in complicated and controversial circumstances.

The timing of the scandal co-incided amongst exactly with the public voting for the TV series 100 Worst Britons. Although she was in the limelight for only a brief period, the unfortunate timing saw her feature in the list, alongside Byers at number 59.

In 2003 she was reported to be training as a teacher.