British Electioneering



April 7, 2001



BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Like toppling dominos, the foot and mouth epidemic sweeping across the British countryside had led from slaughtering herds to political posturing to an historic decision to put off the date of the general election by one month - the first time that's happened since the Second World War.

The action gives British politicians an extra month to reach voters in what is traditionally only a two month campaign season. However they're not allowed to spend any more money. No worries. Though their cash is limited, British campaigners have creative ways of using the media as On the Media's Gareth Michell reports from London.

GARETH MICHELL: The British public faces a general election campaign lasting nearly two months -- a long time in UK politics. It's almost certain that the ruling Labor Party led by Prime Minister Blair will get in for a second term. These are prime ingredients for a bored electorate. Voter apathy could severely dent Labor's majority.

David Hill is one of the UK's leading PR consultants and as a former director of communications at the Labor Party was one of the masterminds behind Tony Blair's victory in 1997. David says that though it's tempting to throw money at the current election campaign, legislation limits the amount parties are allowed to spend.

DAVID HILL: The limit in this country is now roughly 15 million pounds which is about 20 million dollars. Everything that the party spends during the course of what is designated as "the election period" has to come within that 20 million dollar threshold.

GARETH MICHELL: Lord Reynard, campaign director for the UK's third biggest party, the Liberal Democrats, maintains that despite the cap on spending the parties have plenty of scope for selling their policies to the electorate.

LORD REYNARD: I think there's every opportunity in Great Britain for parties to get their message across, and they do it here more perhaps through volunteers calling and visiting people personally, delivering party leaflets, direct mail, methods of that sort. You have less danger that a party can simply buy the election because it has so much more money.

GARETH MICHELL: But as well as spending limits, campaigners face another significant restriction. The can't buy time to advertise on the TV and radio networks here, but they do get some air time for free. Gary Ward is head of communications at the Advertising Standards Authority.

GARY WARD: Parliament has decided that over the years broadcast media is, is such a crucial element that it's important that everyone has a pretty fair access to that and isn't able to buy advantage, and so the main political parties are all entitled to a certain amount of time to have a five minute spot which they call a, a party political broadcast. [MUSIC]

MAN IN POLITICAL BROADCAST: Liberal Democrats have shown what can be done in government in Scotland, now in Wales too. Why not the whole country? [MUSIC]

ANNOUNCER IN POLITICAL BROADCAST: If you'd like to know more about the Liberal Democrats or to join the party, write to Charles Tellit....

GARETH MICHELL: A recent party political broadcast from the web site of the aforementioned Liberal Democrat Party given by leader Charles Kennedy.

The UK's TV networks don't charge for the air time. However according to PR consultant David Hill, in exchange for the free air time, broadcasters may exert some oversight over how the candidates use their space.

DAVID HILL: Those broadcasts have then to be vetted by the channels to see if they're acceptable. They usually are. It's only a rare occasion when they say that there is something too unpleasant or too abusive or inaccurate about those broadcasts, but it is the case that there is the ultimate power of the broadcasters to say they feel that a broadcast should either be altered in some way or withdrawn.

GARETH MICHELL: But away from broadcast, candidates can find the closest thing to free speech on the humble billboard.

DAVID HILL: There's more freedom of expression in billboard advertising than there is in party broadcasting for, for the two reasons that one, there are no rules applying to what's on the billboards where there are some rules that apply to what goes in your party broadcast; and secondly, you can put your billboards anywhere you want and as many of them as you want as long as you stick by the spending rules, whereas the authorities actually have a statutory limit on the number of broadcasts that can take place during a campaign.

GARETH MICHELL: When David Hill was at the center of the Labor Party's successful 1997 general election campaign he learned that the best way of getting around the restrictions is for parties to get their PR right.

DAVID HILL: If you have got a restriction on the amount you can spend, if you do know there are certain rules that you can't break, then you have to say to yourself how do we exploit what is available to us every minute, every hour, in every day? And that is about having the right people talking to the press and the right people knowing how to deliver the stuff that will maximize good coverage in newspapers and on television and radio.

GARETH MICHELL: In Britain, lacking the jackhammer of ads on the TV and radio, successful campaigning is partly about flirting with the media, and of course donning a good pair of walking shoes and meeting the voters in their neighborhoods.

One handshake, one vote might not be that time-efficient, but combined with a nice cup of tea, a discussion about the weather, it's very British. For on the media, this is Gareth Michell in London. [MUSIC]