Charlies Whelan: Still spinning for Brown

The Mole (The First Post's "Westminster insider") suggests that Gordon Brown's former spin doctor Charlie Whelan, now political director of the super union, Unite, is still active on his behalf:

Whelan's loyalty to his old boss is undiminished. Working behind the scenes and in union gatherings, his blokish charm has been much employed rubbishing anyone who suggests a change of leader would help Labour avoid disaster at the next general election disaster.

If you think Whelan is a bit too gor blimey to be true, you are right. In his 2004 biography of Brown, Tom Bower described him thus:

Born in Peckham in 1955, Whelan would above all be obedient and loyal to Brown's cause. "Able but very lazy," was his headmaster's conclusion after the young Whelan failed one examination. In the hope of solving the problem, his parents sent him to a fee-paying boarding school in Surrey. He secured an unimpressive degree in politics at the City of London Polytechnic. 

When he started his first job as a foreign exchange dealer in the City, he spoke in a home counties accent. One year later, employed as a researcher by the AEUW, he spoke like a Cockney.