Jordan Tyldesley has an interesting CAPX piece on those Labour attack ads.
The big problem with Labour’s ad? It treats voters like morons
How do you solve a problem like the Red Wall?...
After some head-scratching, both parties seem to have now decided the answer is law and order. Perhaps ‘Levelling Up’ is too nebulous, or too ambitious, whereas tackling litter, louts and loitering are things everyone can get on board with. And, with the local elections as a mini dress rehearsal, we’ve seen a rather desperate series of Labour ‘attack ads’, including one that effectively accuses Rishi Sunak of siding with paedophiles.
A short piece which is well worth reading. For example, this observation about Starmer's apparent decision to jettison the Mr Sensible persona is interesting. It seems like a particularly foolish move if Rishi Sunak manages to adopt the persona for himself, which he seems quite well equipped to do.
Odder still is that Starmer seems to have abruptly jettisoned his carefully crafted Mr Sensible persona, in order to defend the kind of lurid political stunt he would normally run a mile from. Given that his party are well ahead in most of their target seats anyway, it feels like Labour are taking a thoroughly unnecessary risk – and one that is already backfiring.
How do you solve a problem like the Red Wall?...
After some head-scratching, both parties seem to have now decided the answer is law and order. Perhaps ‘Levelling Up’ is too nebulous, or too ambitious, whereas tackling litter, louts and loitering are things everyone can get on board with. And, with the local elections as a mini dress rehearsal, we’ve seen a rather desperate series of Labour ‘attack ads’, including one that effectively accuses Rishi Sunak of siding with paedophiles.
A short piece which is well worth reading. For example, this observation about Starmer's apparent decision to jettison the Mr Sensible persona is interesting. It seems like a particularly foolish move if Rishi Sunak manages to adopt the persona for himself, which he seems quite well equipped to do.
Odder still is that Starmer seems to have abruptly jettisoned his carefully crafted Mr Sensible persona, in order to defend the kind of lurid political stunt he would normally run a mile from. Given that his party are well ahead in most of their target seats anyway, it feels like Labour are taking a thoroughly unnecessary risk – and one that is already backfiring.
6 comments:
It's actually quite heartening. Labour's ad campaign is indeed stupid, and speaks volumes about the quality of intellect and strategic thinking within the party. The main rebuttals are, as Tyldesley points out, blindingly obvious. PMs don't sentence criminals. The data underpinning the claims pre-dates Sunak's political career. Starmer is far more deeply implicated in law and order than senior Tories. All these points are easily remembered by the stupidest Tory MP sat in front of a camera. And I thought personalised attack ads like this were best wheeled out in the critical run-up to a general election. Even if people believe it, who is going to remember it?
Starmer's "Mr. Sensible" persona wasn't jettisoned, it just failed.
I reckon Sir Ikea was put in place as a safe pair of hands to reduce the excessive radicalisation of the Labour Party and prepare the way for a charismatic new leader. The Mr Sensible Persona was part of that scheme.
However the charismatic new leader is nowhere in sight so Sir Ikea has to pick up that new role. Turning a barrister into a charismatic leader is probably asking too much - although the Conservatives are presently fielding their second team.
I heard one commentator mention that 'these issues are now open for debate' or something similar!
It may not have occured to the ad agency that they might lose that debate, after all, their new 'guidelines' in accordance with Ad Standards, dictates all sorts of measures which dilute any message beyond recognition, so as said above, there's a good opportunity for a backfire very soon!
Labour can't attack Gove's Levelling Up proposals because they are pure Socialism. His latest Baldrick wheeze is to require owners to get planning permission before they can market their properties on AirBandB.
Sam - I agree, the persona failed. The party has been exposed as a rabble which cannot attract talent.
DJ - yes, Starmer's only role seems to be keeping the lid on visible political excess. The attack ads suggest his own radicalism is both unpleasantly divisive and not quite far enough beneath the surface to remain invisible.
Scrobs - I hope the backfire is a really big one, but I'm not confident. Many voters would vote for a donkey if it had the right rosette.
decnine - yes, it's like a competition to see which party can be more socialist. A one party state with a choice of slogans.
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