Mark’s words on LinkedIn – Labour party ad
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
As we slide inexorably from the everyday chaos of political peacetime into the unbridled melee of a British general election campaign, Kier Starmer and the Labour leadership would be wise to take heed of the adage.
Labour’s election strategy of courting voters outside its progressive metropolitan strongholds with increasingly socially conservative rhetoric has been crystalising for months and was writ large in an attack ad bluntly accusing Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives of being soft on crime, specifically sex crimes against children.
The ad went primarily viral due to backlash from both Conservative supporters and the left (including factions of the Labour Party), with accusations ranging from gutter politics to misplaced priorities and even racist ‘dog whistle’ tactics.
Negative campaigning has been highly successful in UK general elections in the past. However, such campaigns’ effectiveness relies on several factors, including the political climate, the opposition’s strength, and the accuracy and credibility of the attacks.
For example, the “Daisy” ad in the 1964 U.S. Presidential Election is considered a masterclass of the genre and a factor in Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory. In the UK, Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘Labour Isn’t Working’ ad is credited for Margaret Thatcher’s victorious 1979 campaign.
Even in recent years, many of the most successful UK election campaign ads – overwhelmingly from Conservative and Brexit campaigns- have focused more on opponents’ weaknesses than the far more difficult task of engaging the public with a positive vision.
And if reach was the only measure of success, then mission accomplished. For an ad with very little (if any) actual ad spend behind it, it has been reported on every news channel and widely shared on social media.
However, several key indicators of success eluded the attack.
Firstly, the ad was not presented by a united front – Labour politicians past and present and supporters were quick to deny or criticise it – and if you can’t even unite your party behind one measly advert, are you any less incompetent than the other lot?
Secondly, Labour’s poll lead stands firmly on a foundation of Tory sleaze, corruption, and negativity; accusations of ‘gutter politics’ risk the stability of this moral high ground.
Finally, the ad will increase the scrutiny of Starmer himself. As an ex-director of public prosecutions whom the Conservatives have sought to position as ‘soft on crime’, surely this choice of the ad will put the Labour leader’s own record back in the spotlight.
If Starmer has chosen to fight dirty, he and his allies should be wary that – collateral damage to their party’s reputation aside- their opponents have a far longer and more successful track record of striking below the belt…