Soft press or hard truths?

Labour members complaining about a hostile press is as old as the party itself. There has rarely been a supportive environment for a left wing party on the fourth estate and it is something the Party has long struggled with as different leaderships have taken different approaches in different eras. 

Less explored, though, is the impact on the Tories of their easy ride from their cheerleader press. 

This occurred to me as I saw headline after headline extolling the Tory conference as a triumph. It’s true that Kemi Badenoch’s speech probably was one of her best and that her personal ratings have risen over the last year. But her personal poll rating is currently -1.1, a deficit of over 10 points compare with Andy Burnham at +9.4. Meanwhile, her party continues to wallow in the doldrums at around 20 points in the polls, usually in third place behind Reform. 

READ MORE: Tory conference reveals their party has learnt nothing from their time in power

Much of the right wing press had been flirting with Reform as it was unclear whether the populists would permanently replace the Tories as the main party of the right. But as Reform’s popularity has slumped, that narrative has been dropped in favour of one of a ‘Keminaisance’. The Telegraph and Mail have largely ended their flirtation with Farage in favour of a return to their traditional Tory support, and as the Times continues its rapid return to being very clearly on the right, they too have chosen to soft soap the Tories 

How much the political positioning of the press matters is deeply contested in our social media age. But that it still matters to politicians and journalists themselves is undeniable. The Today Programme – still the morning listening of choice for SW1 – doggedly read out the headlines of the national press every day and you can be sure this has followed discussion of these stories (presented to them within this right wing framing) at their editorial meetings. 

So the Tories will be pleased with much of the coverage of their conference and their leader. But should they be?

One of the things we think deeply about at LabourList is what value we add to the party we support. We are overt about the fact that we want Labour to succeed – unlike those papers who present themselves as neutral but are anything but, we are upfront about our priors. 

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But what we don’t do is hold back (for example, James’ piece yesterday on the Manchester City scandal) when we think the party or our politicians are getting it wrong. We think Labour politics matters too much to avoid difficult conversations. As I set out when Andy took office: “Unlike the right-wing press, when we are critical of the party, we do so because we want it to succeed – not to fail.” 

The Tory press doesn’t do this and I think it may be damaging to their cause. Because the Tories got an awful lot wrong and not just in the areas they are comfortable admitting because they sit in Kemi’s comfort zone. The damage that was done through austerity, through privatisation and through ideological mismanagement goes a lot deeper, and without exploring properly what didn’t work politically they are doomed to offer the public a repacked parade of failed policies. 

Political parties must find new ways to implement their eternal and lasting values. They have to do the hard work to find out how to persuade voters that those values match their own and that they have the right solutions to the problems the country faces. 

To do that, they need to be challenged by those who share those values as well as opposed by those who do not. And the Tory-supporting press are utterly failing in that duty to challenge. 

As a Labour supporter, it seems odd for me to say this. And perhaps it is my own prejudices about that Tory supporting press that is leading me to dismiss the support they give the Tories as less helpful than it might be. Perhaps this is just a coping mechanism. But given that I have dedicated my life and career to fulfilling this role as best I can for the Labour Party, I like to think it isn’t. 

Kemi will have left Birmingham happy with her headlines. But as long as she lacks a space where those she listens to tell her what she needs to hear, the Tories will not take the time and energy to examine their failures. And, like wolfing down a bar of chocolate (something I also have a great deal of experience of), that might feel good in the moment, but in the long term a sugar rush is not good for your long-term health. For the Tories to actually recover, they need a media diet that contains a lot more honesty. Luckily, this does not look like happening any time soon. 

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