Craig's press secretary quits in tears, calls Conservative leader manipulative

UPDATED 12.55pm:

The Conservative Party has issued the following media statement:

The Conservative Party is given to understand that this morning, Press Secretary Miss Rachel MacGregor resigned although no formal advice of this has yet been received.

The Party expresses its gratitude for all the hard work and effort that she has put in to the campaign. "The campaign puts stress on everyone and Miss MacGregor has been part of a wonderful team that have given 110%" says Colin Craig.

All media enquiries should now be directed to Bev Adair Beets.

"Bev has been assisting Rachel with media responsibilities and I am confident that she will be a safe pair of hands for the last few days" says Colin Craig.

________________________

EARLIER:

Conservative Party leader Colin Craig’s press secretary of the past three years, Rachel MacGregor, has quit just 48 hours from polling day.

NBR ONLINE enquiries to Ms MacGregor about the reasons for her abrupt departure have not yet been responded to.

Mr Craig was not available for comment and the Conservative Party staffer NBR spoke to was “not sure at the moment” who had taken over the role of his press secretary.

The Conservative Party is currently working on an official statement that will be issued shortly, NBR is told.

Ms MacGregor previously worked as a reporter for TVNZ's Breakfast show and a line producer for Good Morning.

In addition to being Mr Craig’s press secretary, she has been a public relations consultant to Enkindle Communications for the past seven months.

Enkindle Communications appears to be Ms MacGregor's own company, although it's not registered with the New Zealand Companies Office.

The news of Ms MacGregor’s resignation was broken by Newstalk ZB's political editor Barry Soper.

"I spoke to Rachel MacGregor this morning and she’s very upset, she’s very tearful and she described Colin Craig as “a manipulative man” and that was as far as she was prepared to go," Mr Soper said, noting "it’s highly unusual that a press secretary would part from a leader two days out from an election".

Mr Soper said he understood Ms McGregor was now seeking advice from a public relations specialist, but did not know whether she left the press secretary role on her own accord.

According to tweets from a NewstalkZB online editor, Mr Craig had no idea Ms McGregor had left the position until asked by journalists about it this morning.

When asked by journalists about Ms MacGregor, Mr Craig initially said, “It’s obviously been a very stressful campaign, so Rachel’s having the morning off and I’m hoping to catch up with her this afternoon.”

After being informed Ms MacGregor had resigned, Mr Craig said, “Well, that’d be a shame but, look, it’s hard work and it’s been very tough out there,” and went on to praise her contribution to his campaign: “All I can say is she’s done a wonderful job and I’m very grateful for the effort that she’s put in.”

Mr Craig expressed his hope that Ms MacGregor would “un-resign” and return to work with the Conservative Party.

The staff member at the Conservative Party’s HQ who has apparently been temporarily assigned the role of Mr Craig's press secretary declined to come to the phone when told that NBR was inquiring about Ms MacGregor’s resignation.