Jonathan Powell (Labour adviser) Jonathan Powell (Labour adviser) Jonathan Nicholas Powell (born 14 August 1956) is a British diplomat who served as the first Downing Street Chief of Staff, under British prime minister Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. He was the only senior adviser to last the whole period of Blair's leadership. During this period Powell was also the chief British negotiator on Northern Ireland. In 2007, Powell joined Morgan Stanley as a full-time senior managing director of its investment banking division. He runs the charity Inter Mediate which works on armed conflicts around the world. In 2014, David Cameron appointed Powell to
Jonathan Powell (Labour adviser) May 2014 British prime minister David Cameron appointed Powell as the UK special envoy to Libya to promote dialogue between rival factions in the country. In March 2017 he was appointed Honorary Professor in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen's University Belfast. Powell's role as Downing Street Chief of Staff came under close scrutiny during the Hutton Inquiry, held following the death of David Kelly in 2003. Powell gave evidence to the inquiry on 18 August, and described several crucial meetings he had attended at which Kelly had been discussed before his