PR and the election – living in interesting times

Given I’m writing this post a couple of days before the UK General Election, there are clearly risks that I’ll both annoy everyone who is already fed up with the campaign, and end up with egg on my face through predictions that turn out to be completely wrong.

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So, I’ll sit on the fence when it comes to the result, and instead look at the public relations around the election itself. In my view there are four interesting topics and trends:

1. Everyone wants to talk about ‘their’ issue

Just as Teresa May (remember her?) spent the last election chanting that the Tories would bring ‘strong and stable’ government, this time around the two main parties are focusing on one key issue above all. For the Tories it is ‘getting Brexit done’ whereas for Labour it is all about austerity in general, and the NHS in particular. Every opportunity is brought back to these key topics, whatever the start point of the question.

2. No-one wants to talk about their leaders

Without being party political it is clear that both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are divisive figures. Their handlers have therefore tried to be careful about when and where they appear in public and in front of the media. Even the leaders themselves have admitted they may be an issue, with Jeremy Corbyn (and multiple Labour candidates) pointing out that this is not a presidential campaign, and voters are choosing their local MP, not the Prime Minister. This may be true technically, but it is also a trifle disingenuous. Nevertheless, in all the election leaflets I’ve had I don’t think any (except the solitary missive from the Liberal Democrats) had a picture or endorsement from the party leader.

3. No-one knows what’s happening

We’ve had predictions from a whopping Tory majority to a hung parliament and the truth is, thanks to the first past the post system and the focus on every step (and misstep) of the parties, it would be a brave person who said the election was over before the votes were counted. Add in tactical voting and you can see why all parties are still pushing hard, with leaders criss-crossing the country and new policies appearing seemingly out of thin air. In my (extremely safe) Tory constituency I’ve not seen a single candidate on the doorstep, but have had lots of leaflets telling me what a good job my MP is doing. And this is despite the fact that it would take an electoral upset of gargantuan proportions to stop the area remaining blue.

4. Online is a key battleground

The traditional left/right division between Labour and the Conservatives has been turned on its head by Brexit. Hence Boris Johnson spending time wooing the leave-voting constituents of Northern seats. This also means that whereas in the past people might have been within a social media bubble of those with the same opinions, this time it isn’t necessarily the case. Hence the push to use online channels by all parties to reach and convince voters – at least £2 million has been spent on social media advertising up until now. And this is likely to grow – traditionally donations to parties ramp up towards the end of campaigns. Given that physical media such as billboards and newspaper adverts are either already booked up or cannot be created in time, the majority of this extra cash will be spent on targeted online ads.

5. Campaigns are not being legal, honest, decent and true

From the first leader’s debate, when Tory Central Office turned its Twitter handle into a supposed fact-checking resource, underhand tactics have been rife. Independent body the Coalition for Reform in Political Advertising has highlighted that at least 31 campaigns from parties across the political spectrum have been indecent, dishonest or untruthful. This is probably a by-product of the generally chaotic nature of the campaign, and the rise of online, which makes it easier to quickly launch ads or claims without necessarily worrying about the consequences.

What can we learn from these points? Sadly, that whatever the result, such tactics are probably here to stay. So given the overall political landscape, I expect I’ll be writing a new version of this blog well within the supposed five year life of the next parliament….