When it comes to party conferences, all parties complain that the media get it wrong.
If you’re in the Green Party, UKIP, Plaid, the SNP or another smaller party you’ll be frustrated about the way the national media ignore you. All those great policies and speeches to the party faithful, but you end up with a small paragraph in the Times. If you’re lucky.
The Lib Dems were finding out this year what it’s like not to be ignored. Tabloid hacks arriving for the first time from the Sun , Express, Mirror and Mail may have been as bemused by the disappointing lack of sandals as delegates were by them.
But, oddly, the Lib Dems probably have most reason of any party to be happy about the media coverage their conference received.
Sure, it wasn’t quite the coverage the party’s managers would have chosen had every editor been in Clegg’s back pocket (they can dream!). There was some talk of splits that didn’t really exist; Cable’s speech was (to the bemusement of most who actually heard it) painted as an attack on capitalism, and that sort of thing. But overall, the media showed worrying signs of starting to get Lib Dem conference, democracy and all.
Labour had their media moments and, at the end, it was far from disasterous – helped by the senior figures managing to keep the disagreements mostly off the record. But the David and Ed show, the “Ed won on the Union vote” line, that Iraq war moment – these are the things that those of us watching from afar remember, and I’m sure any delegate will have a list of positive stories that didn’t make it into the media.
Then we come to the Tories. Oh dear. Their first conference as a party of Government in 13 years. If not quite a celebration, give the state of the economy, the party must at least have been hoping for media reports of a positive mood and lots of exciting new policies.
Instead, the whole conference appears to have been derailed by one announcement: the scrapping of child benefit for high-rate taxpayers. That a reasonably popular policy can cause huge ructions and throw the conference – or at least the media reporting of it – into such confusion, must be deeply worrying to Cameron.
How on-message the media has been for each conference doesn’t appear to have made much difference to the respective poll ratings. Both the Lib Dems and Labour had small poll boosts during their conferences which subsequentally subsided. The Conservatives also appear to be having a similar small boost and there’s no reason to think that won’t fall back too.
For Lib Dems perpetually concerned about our treatment at the hands of the media, the reactions to the other party conferences is a salutary lesson. We weren’t ignored in Liverpool and the reports could have been much worse. Could it be – dare we even think it – that this is as good as it gets?
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7 Comments
@Iain Roberts
“Could it be – dare we even think it – that this is as good as it gets?”
From the viewpoint of a non-conference attender, I think it was as good as it gets. The media are always trying to find negative coverage to undermine a party’s spin. In our case, the negative coverage actually helped demonstrate our independence as a party.
I think Labour’s conference had problems. The key events, Ed winning on the union vote, and David pulling out of front line politics, both were not good for them. Ed’s speech wasn’t bad, but I don’t think many will remember it.
And the Conservative conference too. It’s interesting that, of the three parties, they’ve been the most fractious. And strange that it’s them that appear to be wilting under fire over the cuts.
Of course, the big question is what happens long-term. Immediate reactions to the conference aren’t what is important, nor are mid-term protests over the next two or three years.
What matters is in 2015:
* If problems in the UK economy mean the coalition have lost their economic credibility, and Labour have been able to recover theirs, Ed Miliband will benefit
* If the economy is fine, the Tories have detoxified their brand, and we are still seen to be irrelevant, Cameron will benefit
* if we’re seen to be the only party trusted both to make difficult necessary decisions, and to protect and enhance public services, we’ll benefit
In the past, when most of the coverage we got was at conference, it mattered hugely. But these days, that’s no longer true. What will matter far more is what happens following in Comprehensive Spending Review. Everything before then will have been a phony war.
“If the economy is fine, the Tories have detoxified their brand, and we are still seen to be irrelevant, Cameron will benefit”
As so often, there seems to be an underlying assumption that if the economy’s fine (whatever that means), then everything’s fine. On the contrary, I think that what will matter above all for the Lib Dems at the end of the five years is not the quarterly rate of change of GDP, but the state of public services and the extent to which the sacrifice has been borne disproportionately by the poorest and most vulnerable. I think that concern about issues like those is what has differentiated Lib Dem voters from Tory voters in many of the seats the party currently holds.
@Anthony Aloysius St
I find myself agreeing with you more and more as time goes on
Did the tories get it wrong on child benefit cuts?
Polling suggests this is a popular cut – so following a bad week on defence cuts they have a week on “popular” child benefit cuts. Have they got another couple of popular cuts to announce in the run up to the CSR? When the CSR is announced then the unpopular news about individual cuts is likely to defocus attention on any particular measure – therefore people’s early perceptions of the cuts may well be shaped by this week’s news about child benefit and whatever tory central office can come up with for the next two weeks.
“Polling suggests this is a popular cut”
To be more exact, though, the principle is popular, but a plurality think the way it’s being done is unfair. I’m sure this isn’t being viewed as a PR triumph by the Conservative Party.
‘I think that what will matter above all for the Lib Dems at the end of the five years is not the quarterly rate of change of GDP, but the state of public services and the extent to which the sacrifice has been borne disproportionately by the poorest and most vulnerable. I think that concern about issues like those is what has differentiated Lib Dem voters from Tory voters in many of the seats the party currently holds’
And speaking from Rotherham, i would add the amount of sacrifice that we up here will be making (and of course that includes many poor people whose thought of earning £40.000 by the way would a dream.) . We still remember the last Tory government and how they ravaged the steel and coal industry and broke up communities. The effects of which are still being felt. Many folk here thought Liberals were different to merely cutting and reducing welfare. Many people here work in the public sector and will be terribly hit by the cuts and will never forgive the Liberals for being part of that – ignore this if you wish but it’s a fact that might well haunt liberals in years to come unless we pull out now or soon or at least not support the tory measuresand so not be seen as patsys to the Tory cutters.
David Orr says from Rotherham -“Many folk here thought Liberals were different to merely cutting and reducing welfare.” If David has followed the totality of what the coalition government in general and its Lib Dem members in particular have done and/or promised since the election he will know that the word “merely” should not be in that sentence. He is absolutely right to point to the real risk of unpopularity when the full picture emerges as to what needs to be done to address the appalling economic situation (not sure incidentally how David thinks that situation should be tackled) but surely it is clear by now that this unfortunate legacy is far from what this administration is “merely” about. It’s still very early days but this already is bidding fair to be the most reforming government the UK has seen for a very long time.
Coming back to the Liverepool conference (which I attended and in which I participated) the main good message which came over loud and clear to me was – whether this enterprise is successful or ends in tears we are in it together as a united party. I really think the media now realise this.