Will the British media try to save Rishi Sunak from disaster?
The powerful British media do their utmost to ensure the Conservatives hold power, but every now and then they’re forced to look the other way.
The overwhelming majority of the British media, both tabloids and broadsheets, are desperate for a Conservative government or what they see as the next best thing. Below is just a small sample of the tactics that they will use to persuade or even scare voters not to vote Labour.
There are some notable exceptions of course, like the tabloid The Daily Mirror, or the more respectable left-leaning broadsheet, The Guardian. However, in general, the British media will use any trick they can to make sure to give Labour pain for the Tories gain. There are many notable examples of this. Above we can see how Jeremy Corbyn is portrayed as an enemy of the queen who would get rid of the army and cause widespread chaos. Indeed, Corbyn was public enemy number one to the media. But there have been plenty of other casualties. One of the most famous was in 1992 when it looked like Neil Kinnock would lead Labour to victory against John Major’s unpopular government. The Sun had a headline on election day that said “if Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.” That line worked and Kinnock was surprisingly defeated. But it shouldn’t have been that surprising.
Any party that is hated by the UK media has very little chance of success. Labour’s famous spin doctor Alastair Campbell quickly realised this and made sure that Tony Blair had a good relationship with the media. British newspapers, particularly tabloids, have become powerful over the years, because they’re so good at luring the public in to buy their papers. As we can see from the above headlines, they use sensationalism and ‘permanent outrage’ to attract their readers, and it works. Once they’ve got them hooked, they try their best to influence their politics. That’s why Sir Kier Starmer appears to have no policies or dramatic plans. He does so at his peril. He realises that if he has any policy that appears to be ‘socialist’ or ‘communist’, the right-wing media will take him to the cleaners just like we saw with Corbyn.
However, that doesn’t mean he can’t win and be successful. The media realise the limits of their powers. Sometimes they can be players, but other times they have to be spectators(I recommend J Thomas’ book Popular Newspapers, the Labour Party and British Politics). A newspaper is a player when it actively promotes its agenda, like this unflattering picture of Ed Miliband from The Sun in 2015, that helped the Tories to an unexpected win.
But other times, the media have to follow the people against their own will. Then they have no choice but to be spectators, often hiding their opinions in the middle of the paper. A good example would be how The Daily Mail ignored Rishi Sunak’s early departure from D-Day despite it being all over the news. In one extreme case, The Daily Express lost so many readers in 1997 when they campaigned against Tony Blair that they actually switched sides in 2001!
And that’s the situation we find ourselves in now. The difference is that Tony Blair was an inspiration and popular leader while Sir Kier Starmer is not. But he doesn’t have to be. Because the media will have to be spectators here and accept the will of the people. And the people have had enough. They’ve had enough of 14 years of austerity and Conservative rule. They’ve had enough of people like Liz Truss. They want a change. And Rishi Sunak has made things worse with one gaff after another and seems to have lost control.
Everyone knows it’s time. Sunak was always going to lose. If he’d waited until January things might have improved, and the media might have become more active spectators. It might have meant a narrow defeat. But the media were never going to be players for him. Sunak might be unlucky that his time came now, as the 5th Conservative prime minister in a row, and not earlier, like, say, Theresa May. However, politicians have to make their own breaks. His decision to throw the dice now is fatal. And the media will not be able to save him.
I’d love to know what you think. Feel free to comment.
