Who will tell the best story?

By Brian Jenner

My interest in politics is based on my role as a speechwriter. Having observed the Tory Party at close quarters for the past ten years, I know that the Labour Party could still win the next election.

The problems of the two parties are similar – both are organisationally weak and short on effective activists. The Labour Party has lost its mojo because of its divisions and time in office. The Conservative Party is terrified of acquiring a mojo, because all they really want to do is get out of Opposition. They’re not at all sure what they will do after that.

The Labour Party’s great strength is that the founders created a modern political party – the members are at ease with diversity, unconventional lifestyles and the complexity of modern life. There is no way that anyone could have risen within the ranks of the Tory Party in the past ten years without being deeply conventional and insensitive to how people were behaving at all levels within the group.

The advantage of being modern is that you have a more flexible mind. Along comes a book like Drew Westen’s The Political Brain, written by clinical psychologist, which explains lots of the techniques embraced by the Obama administration.

Westen explains that elections are won by the Party that tells the most emotionally-compelling story about what they want to do for the country. It’s important that the story is coherent and convincing to core supporters, and repellent to the people who are never going to vote for you anyway.

Herein lies Labour’s opportunity. Gordon Brown’s aides need to study Westen’s book and work on his story. Cameron has a small, insular team, trained to achieve, not reflect. They’re high-flying graduates not political characters. They have little experience of dealing with the mucky business of making a living, which means it’s very hard for them to stir emotions. They have a functional approach to speechwriting, rather than a creative an imaginative one.

Cameron is intelligent, competent and likeable, but he has no compelling story to tell about why he should become Prime Minister. There’s no poetry or sweep in his utterances. He has little humour. He also lacks any raw political experience of signing people up for a cause – something the Labour Party did brilliantly between 1995-97.

My interest is not based on support for one party, but rather I’d like to see all parties fulfil their potential, because that makes for engaging public life.

18 months ago I saw Drew Westen speak at a conference of speechwriters in Washington DC and it was overwhelming. Americans treat political communication as something worthy of study and prestige.

It inspired me to gather together the UK’s diverse group of speechwriters and form them into a group. As a way of raising standards in political life, we can come together to discuss how it’s done and where you can get training.

Our first conference is in Bournemouth on Friday 18 September. We have signed up Phil Collins, former speechwriter to Tony Blair, and Professor Max Atkinson, former speechwriter to Paddy Ashdown.

Our ambition is not just to support politicians but also to raise standards in business life. It promises to be a highly entertaining day, and anyone who is interested in public speaking, political communication or speechwriting is welcome to attend.

Find out more about the UK Speechwriters’ Guild go to www.ukspeechwritersguild.co.uk or call 01202 551257.