From my new vantage point of being on the outside, looking in – the last few weeks have felt like the best example of the government and Labour Party communications machinery dovetailing since the election.
Anyone who’s heard a James Lyons and Lidia Fanzo ‘Plan for Change’ lecture (as I, all SPADs and government press officers have) will appreciate how hard this Labour Government is working to try and push a consistent proactive message across government, in an attempt to cut through in such a noisy environment. The idea is to use consistent messaging to show that the government has a clear plan to deliver on the priorities of the British people -and that this should run through all government communications output.
For me, the spending review was the best example of this so far, with the Plan for Change framing used throughout, including three mentions in the Chancellor’s speech.
For days ahead of the Chancellor’s statement on Wednesday’s, the grid was ruthlessly cleared. There were clearly dedicated days for defence, free school meals, nuclear, transport and a massive £39bn housing announcement held for the morning of the Budget.
For those of us who have worked on the inside, there was a clear sense of a coordinated approach with No10 working in lockstep with No11, where Benn Nunn is Director of Comms and also a close friend of the Prime Minister.
Speaking to Labour MP friends this week, they clearly had a sense of positivity and momentum. Which is helpful, as they have all been sent out with tailored Labour Party constituency campaign packs, to sell the spending review on their local area.
This is the prize of delivering an operation over a number of weeks – and for this observer it is the best sustained piece of joined up communications since the election.
Expect Ministers and their teams to be working hard to give the announcements a long tail and find ways to create new hooks to drive coverage and content.
This all chimes with wider strategic efforts to improve comms across government. See for instance the advert for a new position of a permanent secretary for communications at the top of government, a welcome idea to drive this approach at the top of the civil service. Also, you may have noticed the way No10 and departments are looking to work with ‘influencers’, to get their message out there – I’d expect lots more of that to come. As in a fragmented media landscape, finding your audience where they are is vital – and they will look to squeeze all kinds of channels.
None of this makes governing easy at a time of such tough economic conditions, but it does show a clear sense of growing grip and direction from the very top of government.
At a time when the government is working to deliver a step change in communications, businesses that understand that priority and can spot where their interests intersect can help secure important opportunities to get heard and advance their agendas.
