Expert: Phil Woodford - 3/11/2001

Question
Dear Phil,
          I am an A-level student in the middle of writing a project on Tony Blair and his use of Spin Doctors. My choice of question though is somewhat limited in this matter,"To what extent were spin doctors responsible for Tony Blair's seemingly flawless public image in his first three years of office?" I was wondering particularly if you might be able to suggest some examples (within the period of 1997-2000) where Blair's bacon was saved by a bit of sophisticated spin. I have backed up the 'flawless image' part by arguing that Blair did maintain a positive MORI approval rating until summer 2000. Alternatively any examples were spin failed to help Blair in the media would be useful. I am thinking about issues such as Whelan, Davies/Michael, Morgan, Leo/Euan Blair, etc. I have identified the principle spin doctors as Blair, Campbell, Mandleson and Gould. It does not matter if this is an area that you do not know a lot about, but anything you can pass on will be gratefully received.
  Many thanks,
           James Kitovitz

Answer
James

Blair's approval ratings are of course high again at the moment.  There just seemed to be a bit of a blip in 2000.  Generally speaking, there's not a lot that sticks to him – a true ‘teflon' politician in the mould of Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton.  Margaret Thatcher was hugely successful at winning elections, but had high negative ratings for a lot of the time.  She was an ideologue who divided people, whereas Blair is a pragmatist who unites people.  But I'm getting off the point.

I feel you're maybe thinking of spin too much in terms of crisis management, ie how have Campbell, Mandelson et al saved Blair's bacon on various occasions?   This is naturally part of the role – and occasionally an important part.  The Ron Davies ‘moment of madness' episode might be a good example of a difficult story handled quite well.  On the other hand, one example of the spin machine failing miserably was the London Mayoral election.  No matter what they did, Blair's minders couldn't sell the well-meaning, but ineffectual Dobbo to the press.  Livingstone is his own spin doctor and has been doing the job quite successfully for twenty years now – relying on wit, charm and occasional bursts of controversy.

Most PR work, however, is mundane.   The spinmeisters will be massaging journalists' egos, interpreting politicians' statements and actions in a favourable light, suggesting stories that might be run in a newspaper and so on.  This process may not be very visible, but over time will have a major impact on the way in which an organisation is presented in the media.

Overall, I feel that Labour has maintained its high opinion poll ratings through extremely competent management of the economy and the fact that it faces a hopeless opposition.  But then I'm a New Labour fan, so I would say that, wouldn't I?

Phil Woodford