Recently I came home from a social event and decided to have a look at twitter, what I saw threw me. I kept seeing a ‘friend’s’ twitter username come up in my timeline. Everyone from David Allen Green to Louise Mensch and Sally Bercow were talking about him. Why? I thought, my curiosity getting the better of me.

I have never met Lord Credo in real life but I emailed him and had replied to him a lot. He was going to help with Frost Magazine and had to bow out of our launch at the last moment. He knew lots of my friends and hung out with them. I was one of the few people who knew his real name, but he was lying to everyone else.

A blog, http://pme200.blogspot.com/2011/08/fake-belief.html , suggested that in reality, he was a con artist who swindled people out of thousands of pounds. It should be stressed that he has not been formally charged with any offence, but the rumour is that the twitter-styled Lord, currently believed to be in Canada, is set to be questioned by police should he set foot in the UK again.

So, what did I know about the man? He told me he worked high up in politics and that he knew Zac Goldsmith well. I think maybe the reason he first contacted me was because I had just interviewed Zac, who was one of the people I knew and helped during the election. The Huffington Post even interviewed Michael Bracci (Lord Credo’s apparent real name), such was the power of his deceit. The next day, the Evening Standard ran a piece about him in their diary.

The emails he sent me are below. I have removed references to certain people, including the real identity of Fleet Street Fox who he was friends with and spent a lot of time with.

Dear Catherine,

Thank you for passing this along to me.

First, let me tell you a little about myself, and then you can decide if you even want my opinion.

I am – ultimately – a comms guy. Spent two years as special aide to the Canadian PM, then a year as senior press officer at the CPS in London, prior to going into consultancy.  I now work mainly with national level political personalities, on the quiet – thus the pseudonym on Twitter.  I launched a national monthly in Canada with a circulation of around 100,000, that focused mainly on matters cultural, spiritual and the like.  Best thing I ever did, and I’ve been looking for opportunities to get in on the ground floor of something new, exciting, and creative.  Enter Frost.

I find the idea intriguing, but still can’t figure out who you’re writing for (demographic).  Is this for young professionals, thoughtful people in general?  It’s great that you interviewed Zac, for example, but I would have made it a little more hard-hitting, even for a more general audience.

Who are your principals, and how far along are you in defining your editorial guidelines?  Also, have you ever done something like this before, and have any of your principals done anything like this before.

I realise it appears odd for me to just come out of the blue like this and bombard you with questions, but as I say, the concept is intriguing. I think given the right direction, it could fly.

If you are interested in talking about this more, I would welcome that. About the only thing further I would add at this point is that I would prefer to be a very anonymous contributor.

Also, I see that you’re building a list up for a launch party. Is that for the website or are you getting set to put your first printing to bed?

Any correspondence from you will be kept in the strictest of confidence.

Best,
Michael

Hi Catherine,

I’ll just get this out of the way, so you’re not left wondering: I don’t expect to be compensated.  These things are a labour of love for me.

So, a few things:

1)  I’d be quite pleased to contribute items of a political nature – and provide some editorial oversight, if needed. Most of that would focus on things like PR, why people say things the way they do, editorial observations about individual politicians, policy commentary, and so on.

2)  I’d be thrilled to act in an advisory role.  Without knowing much yet about what Frost eats, I’m not sure how hands-on that would be.  But it’s worth exploring, n’est ce pas?

3)  I can get us some high-end content.  From guest writers to seasoned hacks – and I draw from an international pool.

4)  Why “Frost”?  What’s in the name?

5)  May I have a look at the business plan, and the writers guidelines?

6)  Might be a plan to meet with you and your team at some point.

I think that ought to do for now.  Please by all means fire away with any questions you have for me.  As we’re just testing the waters right now, no doubt you have a few!

Further thoughts?

Best,
M

This below is us trying to meet up, he kept changing his schedule.

Sounds good. Tied up early this week with Parliament getting back in session, but reasonable after that.

Look forward to seeing biz plan and guidelines. :)

M

Cheers, deary. Will try to get in touch today/tomorrow. But busy right now (as you know!)  :).

There’s some static coming up right now, surrounding the Tory party conference in Birmingham, Nadine Dorries & Iain Dale. So, not a word to anybody about my name.  :)   Many thanks for your ongoing discretion!

Speak in the next couple of days.
Cheers,
Michael

And after he missed my launch party, he sent this:

Hi Catherine,

I’m so dreadfully sorry to have missed the launch, and to have been so bereft of the good grace to email you when I say I’m going to. Please forgive me.

How did it go, first of all?  [real name of Fleet Street Fox removed] told me it was just kicking off when she left.

Things have been extraordinarily busy for me leading up to the release of the CSR, which is why I’ve been so out of touch.  Now that it’s out of the way, shall we start over?  We’ve been talking about it for months, but I suspect that a good start would be a telephone conversation, given our busy schedules.

I wanted to write to assure you that I am still quite interested in being involved with the project, but it’s come along so quickly I think we need to figure out how I would/could fit into that equation.

In any event, all my congratulations on the event. Are there piccies online of it yet?

Best,

Michael Bracci

In this social media age, when everyone tweets everything about themselves, maybe we are giving too much away.

It seems no one is truly what they seem.