TITLE: Bouncing back from Political PR hell

SUBHEAD: Former Black Labour councillor Miranda Grell breaks her 9 year silence to offer advice on how political figures can repair their reputations after a personal scandal.

Back in 2006, Miranda Grell was elected as a Labour Councillor in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in East London. The following year, she was prosecuted for misconduct after it was claimed that she slurred a rival Liberal Democrat candidate during her election campaign.

This week, Miranda Grell, who now works for Hackney Community Law Centre, chose branding blog OPELLO™ (http://www.opellomedia.com/blog/dust-your-shoulders) to break her 9 year silence and discuss the “public shaming and subsequent destruction of my personal brand” for the first time.

Grell says she hopes that “this article (and future articles to come) will assist other people who’ve had their reputations damaged.”

Since the controversy, Grell has retrained as a barrister and was formally called to the Bar in November 2014, proposed by former Court of Appeal judge Sir Stephen Sedley. This was greeted with praise by Grell’s friend and ally, the Shadow Health Secretary Diane Abbott MP (https://twitter.com/HackneyAbbott/status/539705681377763328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Tunde Okewale MBE, barrister and founder of the Urban Lawyers charity also praised Grell’s decision to break her silence on his influential Twitter account.(https://twitter.com/UrbnLawyer/status/771397285783674880)

Miranda Grell said: “The last 9 years have been extremely tough for me but I believe that some good can come of it if I share my experiences and try to help others going through something similar. My message to those at the centre of a political storm is that you can and will get through it and will come out stronger”.

Note to editors:

1. About Miranda Grell: Miranda Agnes Jayne Grell (born June 1978) to parents from Dominica, is a barrister and former Labour Party councillor for the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Grell joined the Labour Party in 1999 having been persuaded to do so by her friend and fellow student Chuka Umunna,[7][8] who became an Member of Parliament in 2010.

2. About OPELLO™. Launched in 2015, OPELLO™ media group is a London-based digital marketing consultancy specialising in branding, multimedia design and social media marketing.