Image Matters

We are entering the second year of Gordon Brown’s premiership, which happens to coincide with the worst economic downturn that the UK has seen in years. Gordon Brown has a lot to learn from the lessons dealt out to John Major in the early 90’s, there are many comparisons that can be drawn between the two, will Brown learn from the lessons of the past or is it simply that Labour have reached their expiration date?

Unfortunately it would seem as though Brown is fated to become a victim of one of the enduring curses of the British political system, every government has a shelf life. In 1997 when the Labour party secured a historic landslide victory over the divided and weakened conservatives it seemed as though we were being ushered into a new and exciting time for British politics. Labour compared to outgoing and tired government seemed to be fresh and energetic, they had a young dynamic leader backed up by the strong willed iron chancellor. What followed was a period of unparalleled economic growth and as Labour enjoyed an extended honeymoon period the feel good factor was almost contagious. Time progresses through Labour’s tenure in office and the cracks begin to show, as we approached the 2005 general election there seemed to be an increasing discontent with the Labour government whose second term saw near disaster with backbench rebellions over tuition fees plans and most importantly, Iraq.
As Blair vacated office it is probably fair to say that the millstone around his neck was the misguided intervention in Iraq, nevertheless he seemed to have an enduring survival instinct that kept in office. Of course it is inevitable that after a certain length of time in government back benchers tend to become and more difficult to control; as time wears on they become aware that their chances of promotion are considerably less likely and so a public rebellion is one way of demonstrating discontent. Another problem for Governments is an increasing inward facingness that tends to take hold. It was most prevalent in Thatcher’s government where her stubbornness and assertion that she knew what was right for the country above anyone else became more and more abstract as the parliamentary party became increasingly impatient and unsettled. The same can be said for Blair, in order to be an effective Prime Minister one has to have a substantial ego, that in itself is not a bad thing at all, in actual fact if it is tempered by sensible advisors it is certainly a positive; as without an ego a Prime Minister is stripped of their effectiveness to lead. But as government ages it seems as though governments seem to become more inward facing, a bunker mentality develops. When Thatcher was eventually ousted from the top job her successor was faced with the considerable task of steadying the ship and trying to escape the considerable shadow of his predecessor. Major in many ways can sympathise with Brown, both men have been loyal party members, well respected within the party and competent. They both rose to premiership in the wake of a huge character that dominated British politics for longer than any previous Prime ministers ever had and their both had to deal with the legacy of their predecessors (both the good and bad). Their fatal flaw is that they fail to possess the charisma to deal with both their parties, the media and the economic downturn that confronted them.
The adage ‘Its the economy, stupid’ rings particularly true in times of downturn. Throughout Brown’s time as chancellor when things were good economically what concerned voters were other issues, crime, foreign policy, immigration. Now that things are not so comfortable and in the week that inflation has risen 0.5% in a month Brown is under increasing pressure to deal with it. The problem he has is one of image. As chancellor Brown was seen as solid, a safe pair of hands where Blair was charismatic and people liked him, even at the height of public outcry over Iraq he seemed to have the courage of his convictions, Blair had the knack of being able to escape most crises simply because he came across as a nice bloke, Brown, who always seemed to come across as though he would not pander to the media because that is not how you change the country was never as likable, but in many ways more respectable as Blair’s right hand man he seemed to provide substance to match Blair’s media friendly demeanour and as a team they worked , Brown has no such character on his team, Darling, Miliband et al are all reasonably forgettable and do not really qualify as public figures. In the media driven world that we live in Brown seems to have forgotten that image matters first, competence second to most people, unfortunately for him both things are under question at the moment.

Conversely the Tories have taken lessons from the New Labour revolution, their line up is very media friendly, young(ish) and seem to have revitalised themselves in the same way as the Labour party did in 1997. It seems as though we have stepped back in time to the mid nineties and landed in upside-down world. A struggling Prime minister lacking in charisma trying to deal with a fragmented party and economic downturn facing a new opposition brimming with enthusiasm. It is the natural order of things, as politics becomes more centralised and the divide between parties’ ideologies becomes less and less clear it is inevitable that image matters.