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Posts Tagged ‘Conservatives’

GORDON BROWN: WHAT DIFFERENCE WOULD A MEDIA COURSE HAVE MADE?

Friday, May 14th, 2010

So Gordon Brown thinks things may have been a little different had he reaped the benefits of a media studies course.

Yeah. Right.

Because that’s what they teach you in media studies isn’t it?

Lesson one: Never call a politically out-of-touch old lady a ‘bigot’ when you’ve got a microphone strapped to your lapel.

Lesson two: Develop a sense of humour well in advance of the day before you’re expecting the entire country to vote for you.

Imagine if Mr Brown had enjoyed the experience a media course would have given him.

He’d have still shouted at incompetent ministerial aides wouldn’t he? Media training doesn’t teach you what to do when you lose your temper at the sheer ineptitude of your underlings.

He’d have still called Gillian Duffy a “bigot” when he assumed he was back in the safety of his blacked out government limo. Media Studies doesn’t teach you NEVER to reveal your true feelings does it?

It teaches you the tricks of communication. How to use every available tool in the communications workshop to make your point heard and memorable.

Brown got the ‘memorable’ bit all by himself. His problem was his method of hammering it home. Gordon’s approach was tantamount to using a sledgehammer where a meat tenderiser was all that was required.

His true failing was revealing that, like the rest of us, he’s infallibly human. He swears, cusses, gets angry, argues, is irritated by morons and endures bad moods just like we all do.

Like all ailing superheros, it is that humanity which eventually becomes the fuel of their ultimate downfall.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

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Posted in Celebrity, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

ADAM MOSS TALKS A LOAD OF POLITICS

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

I’VE had enough political junk mail through my letterbox in the last week to build a new House of Commons.

But there have been no knocks at my door from men or women in suits wanting my vote.

I’ve never felt so unwanted.

While Gordon Brown was slagging off Grannies in Rochdale, David Cameron was rolling up the oh-so-carefully pressed sleeves of his starchy white shirt, again, and Nick Clegg was standing on yet another soap-box spouting frothy sentences about how real the new third option now is, I was sitting, with baited breath, kettle at the ready and devil’s advocate speeches rehearsed, waiting for any half decent politico to come and have a go.

It didn’t happen. I waited, and waited. I even made a cup of coffee. Then I waited some more.

What happened to conversation, political debate? Is my front door the wrong colour? Does the fact that I live a few doors down from an undertaker mean I am politically irrelevant?

These, and many more, were the questions running through my mind as I flicked between news channels to see where in the UK our great political thinkers were delivering their latest lines in rehearsed leadership banter.

I would have thought that my vote counted. Particularly because I live in a Labour constituency which has been historically Tory but is marginal to say the least.

Isn’t this exactly the kind of killing field where the great battles of the 2010 General Election are supposed to be taking place.

I expected troops in blue, red and yellow, to be in full street combat outside my house. Instead, I got takeaway-style political leaflets through my letterbox. It’s a bloody shoddy approach to politics.

I voted this morning. None of them deserved it. They’d not even bothered to pretend to be anywhere near my house in the last few weeks.

Leaflets, KFC-style, that’s as cutting edge as this allegedly cut-throat political fight got in Heaton Moor.

I voted for Colonel Saunders. Fried chicken is the future.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

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THEY THINK IT’S ALL OVER…………IT IS NOW

Friday, April 16th, 2010

HOT FAVOURITES CAMEROON SUFFER STAGEFRIGHT AND LOSE OUT TO STRONG CHALLENGE FROM LIBERIA’S DEMOCRATS WHILE THERE IS NO MOVE FOR DEFENDING CHAMPS UNITED STATES OF LABOUR

“THE RACE for the Premiership just got interesting didn’t it Ron?”

“It’s a game of three halves Motty. There’s 60 milllion referees and it’s a three horse race now. It couldn’t be more exciting.”

“So, we’re 90 minutes in. Is this likely to go to extra time or maybe even penalties Ron?”

“The jury’s still out Motty. There’s been some woeful defending but all three have got potential match-winners in their squads. Let’s hope they don’t waste too many chances in the final third. We’re bound to get one or two offsides in the final two legs. It’s anyone’s game right now.”

It certainly seems, after the first Leaders Debate, that Lib Dem leader-cum-super sub Nick Clegg, has stolen the headlines and the plaudits. But will that ever really transfer into tangible power? It’s a bit like the old ‘Crazy Gang’ Wimbledon beating Liverpool in the FA Cup Final – a refreshing change which surprised everybody before the team eventually slipped back down into the obscurity of the lower leagues once more.

Reigning champs Labour showed glimpses of just why they’ve been in power for so long. Centre-forward Gordon Brown displayed his silky ball juggling skills, especially when debating the economy. But there are Manchester United-like chinks in Labour’s armour that come, like at Old Trafford, from the kind of complacency that sets in when you are in command and believe that you are untouchable. United look likely to lose their ‘crown’ to Chelsea this season – Labour will be hoping that David Cameron’s blue-shirted Chelsea-supporting Tories don’t do exactly the same.

Chelsea…sorry….the Conservative Party are the pretenders to the Premiership throne. But unlike Chelsea, who are hammering home their promise in every match on the home straight, Cameron’s Blues took a bit of a ‘roasting’ in the first leg.

Trying to play Mr Nice Guy and avoid confrontation is all very well but not if it makes you look weak and indecisive. It was a golden chance in the six-yard box booted firmly into Row Z, wasn’t it David? A PR own goal for a former PR consultant?

Our own Brazen Exit Poll places the leaders popularity score, after the first leg, as follows:

Nick Clegg – 90%
Gordon Brown – 72%
David Cameron – 50%

It’s back to the drawing board for Cameron; a desire to keep exploiting the failures of the old guard in order to distract attention from his own policy inadequacies by Nick Clegg: and a prayer or two from Gordon Brown that his party’s painfully slow clawing-back of popularity turns into a fully-fledged sprint in the final lap.

“Politics. Bloody Hell,” as Sir Alex Ferguson might say.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

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GENERAL ELECTION – ARE WE NOW VOTING FOR POLITICIANS OR CELEBRITIES?

Monday, April 12th, 2010

It’s just not cricket is it?

Just because our friends over the pond do it, does it make it right?

No, it doesn’t.

So stop it.

Hang your heads in shame David Cameron and Gordon Brown. This is a General Election not a Westminster heat of The X Factor.

So stop wheeling out celebrities to support your cause and offer ridiculously manufactured photo opportunities.

I’m not voting for Ian Botham, Michael Caine or even Dr Who himself -David Tennant.

Look what happened in America. Politics is now a tacky showbusiness style sideshow where the real issues are confused with who is more popular – Oprah Winfrey or Arnie. It is farsical. Ridiculous. Unnecessary.

Watching David Cameron go for a weekend jog with Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham was simply cringeful. And now Labour is wheeling out Dr Who.

Gordon – there may be a number of redundant robots in Westminster but there are no daleks. You don’t need the good Doctor.

Plus, he wouldn’t win any votes for you. He can’t even vote himself because he lives in a sodding phone box.

Sir Michael Caine – hang your head in shame. You’ve just blown the bloody doors off your credibility mate. Politics is no place for Harry Palmer.

This is politics and the future of the country we’re talking about, not a new UK soap opera. Can we talk about what you’ll actually be doing to improve the green, green grass of home rather than who’s in your little black books gents.

Yes, good PR practice, demands that in this day and age, celebrities are used to endorse products and companies at every turn. And it works too.

But the General Election is about our future, a serious issue with serious implications for everyone in the UK. This shouldn’t be some celebrity endorsed product launch.

Just for once, it would be nice to see the real issues – the promises the three big parties are making to the people of the UK – get an airing. Instead, the ‘promises’ are masked by dry ice, jogging pants and daleks. Shame.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

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Posted in Celebrity, News | 1 Comment »

IS GORDON BROWN HUMAN AFTER ALL?

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Apart from the Daily Mail’s hideously predictable condemnation, Gordon Brown seems to have pulled off a bit of a positive PR coup with his Piers Morgan interview at the weekend.

Commentators are being, for the large part, generous in the extreme to the hugely under-fire PM after his ‘in-depth’ revelations on the ITV chat show.

It wasn’t, as you may suspect, that ‘in-depth’ or revealing, but it did paint a picture of Gordon Brown as far more human than most of us had imagined.

I smell Alistair Campbell’s involvement here. Somewhere along the line.

There have been one or two accusations of stage-management – i.e Brown knew the questions beforehand and had time to prepare his answers. Let’s be honest here, there is probably a great deal of truth in that theory. But, aren’t all Piers Morgan’s interviews on his show like that?

That’s how he gets such high-profile guests. It’s an old newspaper trick – and it works. Offer up the list of questions beforehand and you’ll get the interview everyone wants and the viewers/readers everyone wants too.

The ‘stage-management’ issue aside, Gordo seems to have ditched the robot-like political cloak he seems to keen on hiding himself behind most days and, as a result, has won some new admirers with his relaxed, anecdotal approach to the whole shebang.

You can’t please everyone of course. The Daily Mail’s old-school Tory bitterness is plain for all to see in Quentin Letts’ assessment of Brown’s hour of light-entertainment dialogue:

“Mr Brown once assured us that he would never use his family for cheap political stunts. Last night he did not just break that word. He shattered any right to be regarded as a man of self-respect.

“No matter how many votes it wins him, I suspect he will live to regret this appalling, ill-judged show.”

I wonder whether he’ll be quite so harsh when it is Tory leader David Cameron’s turn in the primetime spotlight?

Brown, in many ways, was in a no-win situation with this interview. If he hadn’t done it he’d have continued to have been accused of being nothing more than a stuffy, secretive political robot with a firewall between the public figure and his humanity.

And, once he agreed to appear, the knives were already being sharpened in the back rooms of right-wing Fleet Street.

We applaud Gordo for giving it a go. It may well have been stage-managed, he may well have had hours of coaching from a certain Mr Campbell in preparation but we think Toby Young, said it best in the Telegraph:

“The figure that emerged during the hour-long interview was witty and relaxed, never more so than when talking about Sarah, his extremely telegenic wife. He even opened up about the death of their 11-day-old daughter, a personal tragedy that’s sure to touch the hearts of the British people. The contrast with the stiff, socially awkward Thunderbird puppet who has run the country for the past two-and-a-half years could not have been greater.”

Is it too late to save his ailing Labour Government though?

Probably.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

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YOUNG TORIES SET TO BRING BACK STARLIGHT EXPRESS AT PURE IN MANCHESTER!

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

The Conservative Party conference is in Manchester this week – a city that is historically Labour through and through, so, what the Tories have up their sleeves to prove their streets cred and tempt the younger voters in the North West to vote Blue.

It may come as a surprise to some people but there are actually members of the Conservative Party that are under 30!

Despite David Cameron’s best efforts to appeal to Britain’s youth, with his ‘cycle to work to set an example but have my bags driven into the office behind me ’ stance on the green issue and, ‘getting down with the kids’ on inner city visits, the jury is still out as to whether the Tory Party is a viable and attractive choice for Britain’s under 26’s.

It is quite apparent that although we are sick of Labour, Britain’s Generation Y or ‘Millenials’ don’t have a party that really appeals… until now maybe? Is their secret weapon the next generation of Conservative Party members – the Young Tories?

Their new policies on pensions, healthcare, education and public service reform (among others) are all being outlined this week at the Manchester Central conference centre and while this is all very worthy and probably massively important (and I will at some point take the time to have a look at their key points on the BBC website) I’m more interested in what the Young Tories have got planned.

On Wednesday 07 October the Young Tories are set to take over Manchester’s biggest nightclub Pure at The Printworks for a night of Rollerdisco! – I can just see it now, blue suits, top buttons undone and ties either at a jaunty angle or wrapped around heads, Rambo style to Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’…brilliant!

As if this wasn’t enough (I can feel my vote swaying already), Boris Johnson is rumoured to be joining the organised fun. In his own words “[Manchester is] one of the few great British cities I have yet to insult” and a part of me wants him to try.

This is the man that when talking about drugs said

“I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed so it didn’t go up my nose. In fact, it may have been icing sugar.”

And on voting Tory

“Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3.”

Cutting down 24 hour drinking is a card that the Tories plan to use in the forthcoming General Election but shouldn’t this probably mean the conference centre bar should shut at 11pm and the Young Tories should be tucked up in their plush hotel suites before midnight? Who cares I say, this is much more appealing, I can see the Diary page in the MEN already; ‘Boris Bashes Bum in attempt to get down with the kids”.

A poll around the office seems to show that although David Cameron is the best thing to happen to the Conservative Party for quite a while, his Blair-ish similarities are seen as old hat and the rest of the party are labeled Old Dodderers and Wolves in Sheep’s clothing, but I say if this is a party that in the next few years will be run by youths with ties wrapped round their heads dancing to disco whilst on Roller-boots then they have my vote!

By Robbie Platt, Account Executive

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Posted in Manchester PR, Stunts | No Comments »

THE RUNNING COLOURS OF THE RED TOPS

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

It was announced today that after 12 years of supporting Labour, Britain’s top selling tabloid, The Sun, has thrown its allegiances and media might behind the Tories.

The news came after The Sun printed the headline ‘LABOUR’S LOST IT’ along with the subheading ‘After 12 long years in power, this government has lost its way. Now it’s lost the Sun’s support too.’ A bold statement I think you’ll agree…

With The Sun and Labour pitched as providers ‘for the people’, this came as quite a shock – especially as I’ve always known and been taught throughout history that red tops are left wing and the mid-market/broadsheets right. I always assumed that The Sun was Labour’s flagship media title whilst The Mail represented the Tories. Needless to say, I was a little confused by the statement; ‘Sun turns its back on Labour after 12 years of support’.

Being the keen media lover that I am, I decided to read up on the history of Britain’s greatest tabloid and contrary to the stereotypical beliefs of those who don’t know better, discovered shock of all horrors…that The Sun has indeed primarily been a supporter of the blues!

First published by IPC in 1964, The Sun was born a Labour-ite but this all changed five years later when the current owner, Mr Murdoch, took charge of the paper and subsequently took it right wing also.

Although the paper remained Labour orientated after the takeover this all changed during the Margaret Thatcher general election when on the 3 May 1979, The Sun ran the headline; ‘VOTE TORY THIS TIME’…very similar to today.

From then onwards, The Sun became an avid Thatcherite and launched frequent scathing attacks on what the paper called the “loony left”. It even supported Thatcher during some ‘of the people’s’ darkest days such as transforming Arthur Scargill into Hitler and who could forget the iconic, yet distasteful, ‘GOTCHA’ headline celebrating the torpedoing of the General Belgrano during the Falklands War.

Even with the political passing of ‘Maggie’, The Sun continued their allegiance to the Conservatives throwing themselves behind John Major. On the day of the general election, another classic headline was plastered over the tabloid’s front page – ‘If Kinnock wins today, will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights’. Two days later The Sun was so convinced its front page had swung a close election for the Conservatives it declared, ‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’.

On the 18 March 1997, the paper went into Labour again stating; ‘THE SUN BACKS BLAIR’. It is believed in exchange for Rupert Murdoch’s support, Blair agreed not to join the EURO and since then the paper has supported Labour in both the subsequent two elections, in 2001 and 2005, but has not backed all of the party’s policies through and through.

And now here we are on Wednesday 30 September 2009 – ‘LABOUR’S LOST IT’. Is it a case that The Sun has always been a ‘closet-Conservative’ or does the paper sway from side-to-side depending on public opinion, after all, money makes the world go round.

More importantly as The Sun’s history proves, is it simply luck that they’ve always been on the winning side? WithThe Sun, Mail, Express and Times all generally considered to be in Cameron’s corner, I fear that even this is a fight that not even John ‘one punch’ Prescott could get out of alive.

The might of the media – 30 September 2009, the day that killed New Labour.

By Graeme Anthony, Account Manager

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