She scored a job as a political reporter at The Australian, one of the country's biggest newspapers, where she described her job as getting ministers to 'blab'. When she was a reporter, a Labor MP spread rumours claiming she was getting her stories through an affair with a fellow politician. Play it now. Controversially, Savva didn't approach Abbott or Credlin to comment for her book - despite detailing rumours of an affair between them. "Even those of us who thought we were insiders learnt something reading her column," says one of the key players in the Turnbull coup. Ms Savva's husband Vincent Woolcock is on staff for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. During the event, the advancer guides the leader through and ensures they get out on time. And in February 1974, she began her long march towards becoming one of Canberra's most well-regarded figures. At eight weeks long, this election campaign has required a marathon effort from the advance teams on both sides of politics. When a family crisis began to complicate her life as political journalist, in the late 1990s she jumped the fence and became one of Peter Costello's top staffers. "People have been known to burst into tears when things go wrong. The advancer also works closely with police and security officers to ensure events are safe. "It can be a shock for people to meet leaders in the glare of the national media and they need to be prepared.". But she comes from humble roots. As she sits at Aussies Cafe at Parliament House, alarmed by the massive pieces of raisin toast in front of her, Savva is in the middle of a media whirlwind. He compares the advancer to a middle-order batsman in a cricket team: they rarely get any glory but without them the whole show collapses. If walking through a shopping mall, they will have identified a few friendly shopkeepers to point the leader towards. But as her columns in The Australian became increasingly critical, she says she transformed into the "she-devil" of the Abbott government. Still in touch with many fellow operatives from the Howard years, Savva became a magnet for those with unflattering tales about Abbott and Credlin. "Scurrilous gossip": Tony Abbott responds to Niki Savva book. She and Peter Costello didn't speak for eight years after she published a book about her time working as his press secretary. Get contact details, reviews, and more. Margaret Brown Foley 1886 - 1961. It was a killer. Credit:Andrew Meares. Rather than provide a boost for Gillard, that evening's news bulletins – asking whether she was a "dead duck" – reinforced the image of a beleaguered leader. Woman of the moment: Niki Savva (pictured) worked for Treasurer Peter Costello for six years and as a political journalist in Canberra for decades prior to writing her explosive book, She started working as a political journalist in February 1974, during the height of Gough Whitlam's prime ministership (pictured), Niki Savva was born in Choli, a small, remote village in Cyprus. The ideal person will be a swinging voter or someone who has switched sides because of a particular policy decision. Instead, the British PM laughed, saying: "Oh Vincent, I'd forgotten what that was like.". The building is abuzz about The Road to Ruin, her long-awaited book probing the relationship between Tony Abbott and his chief of staff Peta Credlin. Paul Keating had done the same many years ago when she was critical of his prime ministership, bagging her as a "Tory bitch". "It is a lonely job," one former advancer admits. ‘Paul Keating (once) claimed on radio I wrote what my husband told me. In an article firing back at Ms Credlin on Thursday, she noted how long she had been in the political game - something there is little doubt about. Wrong Colin Vincent WOOLCOCK? Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's advancer Vincent Woolcock at a mattress factory. ", Tony Abbott and former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin asked Savva's former editor to sack her.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen, The MP notes that after running The Age and Herald Sun Canberra bureaus, she worked for Peter Costello and John Howard: "She knows what makes the Liberal Party tick; she knew what would get under the skin of a Liberal Party MP better than anyone else in the gallery.". Niki Savva, author of the book Road to Ruin. Alarm bells about the Abbott operation started ringing for Savva when they were still in opposition, after Liberal staffers told her his office was "constipated" because nothing could get past Credlin. As well as creating images that resonate – such as Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne racing billy carts in 2010 – advancing is about minimising risk. This was demonstrated recently when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison travelled to a family home in southern Sydney to announce they would make no changes to negative gearing. ", Opposition Leader Bill Shorten didn't avoid the potential pitfalls of a "Top Chicken" store during a recent visit to Melbourne.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen. Dowdy continues to work for Abbott handling media enquiries. Although regarded as a junior role, one political operative says: "Good advancing can make or break the selling of a policy. She also didn't speak to staffers with a more flattering view of the pair. While some political roles – such as analysing polling trends or digging up dirt on opponents – require a mastery of data and documents, advancing is a highly personal task. 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