Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Can Gordon Communicate?

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations has published a poll on what their senior members think of politicians and political communication. Note the final question - or more importantly the answers...

1. Who do you think would make a better Prime Minister?
Gordon Brown - 41%
David Cameron - 55%
Ming Campbell - 4%

2. Has the civil service press and PR function been politicised since 1997?
Yes - 87%
No - 13%

3. The opposition and the press say that Tony Blair has relied too much on ‘spin’. Do you think that this is fair?
Fair - 77%
Unfair - 23%

4. Who is a better communicator?
David Cameron - 28%
Tony Blair - 72%
Gordon Brown - 0%

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem with Gordon Brown is he can make ANYTHING sound dreary and boring...

When I see him on the news I just want to switch off.

Anonymous said...

Rather a weird answer that last one. Surely GB must be able to communicate something, or else we wouldn't have acquired that impression of him as a glowering Stalinist control freak battering listeners into submission. He'd just be a blank cardboard cutout.

Anonymous said...

How Brown sounds on TV is probably nothing like what he sounds like in his office - SHOUTING :)

However, his public speaking is dreadful. He does, I think, make everything sound so painfully dull and boring.

Anonymous said...

Blair's 'skill' at communication is the direct cause of many of the problems we in the UK face. Long on talk and short on action. Not one successful Department of State. His lies have lead to the destruction of Iraq. His introduction of Campbell to the body politic has corrupted same. Give me an honest competent leader. The great 'seducers' should stick to the silver screen - Blair's salemanship have saddled Iraq with a lasting legacy of death and destruction.

Anonymous said...

I think Gordo did well to get 0% !

Anonymous said...

OT, but isn't Patricia Hewitt absolutely unspeakable..

Anonymous said...

Patsy's getting a hammering in the commons even as we speak ! And she's still using that hectoring and patronising style. Still not long now before the "Great Clunking Fist" deals with her !

Anonymous said...

Actually, all this might do is prove that 72% think Tony Blair is a better communicator than Gordon Brown and that 28% think David cameron is a better communicator than Gordon brown.

It could equally be the case that 72% think Gordon Brown is a better communicator than David Cameron.

It's a "how to lie with statistics" classic

Anonymous said...

Re the statistics

It clearly means that 28% think that Cameron is better than Blair, which means that 100% think that Cameron is better than Brown.

Brown's USP used to be that he was perceived as genuine. Now his dodgy smile, carefully modulated voice and disappearing scottish accent have lost him even that advantage.

jailhouselawyer said...

That Cameron is only 28% is sinificant. Brown has been in the shadows. When the wallflower comes out to dance, just watch him jive Daddy-O...

David Anthony said...

For somebody with a PR background, DC has done a pretty bad job of communicating with his party this week.

As was pointed out on The Daily Politics today, there was a distinct lack of cheers when he stood up to the despatch box this lunchtime.


I think this is an early warning sign of divisions to come in the future should he take up the office of No. 10. Any more - self-created - episodes like this could damage the party just as the Labour revolts have.

'I speak, you listen' ... sorry DC, but communication is a two way thing...

Anonymous said...

if gordo presented the cheque to u for a lottery win it would seem bad.

Anonymous said...

Cameron's not done as well as I would have expected. Is that due to his style of communication or the policies he communicates, or both?

Auntie Flo'

Anonymous said...

If Gordo presented cheques for lottery wins then I'll bet there'd be tears... from him.

Anonymous said...

David Anthony said...

For somebody with a PR background, DC has done a pretty bad job of communicating with his party this week...a distinct lack of cheers when he stood up at the despatch box this lunchtime

'I speak, you listen' ... sorry DC, but communication is a two way thing...

Exactly, it is his new found autocratic style that's the problem. I didn't see him in this way at all when he initially became leader, he seemed much a natural communicator. Something's changed him, whether the responsibilities of office or his spin doctors.

Spin doctors, I think, like Broon I think he's being over controlled by these people, they're interfering with his natural appeal - and the trouble is it shows.

Antie Flo'

Unsworth said...

Short answer is No. But it depends on what or whom he's attempting to communicate with. Most of the time he's merely using a barrage of words to avoid answering the question.

And then again, maybe he'd do better trying the ouija board. After all, he's on a different astral plane from most of mankind.

Chris Paul said...

This is the society of soft soap sellers being asked to comment on something about which they know very little indeed? Yes? Good. Thought so. Though Comrade Blair did rather well in that last question - must have a typo in it? Definite article?

jailhouselawyer said...

Gordon can communicate, via his sock puppet, over at my place...

Anonymous said...

Question 2 - that 13% who didn't think Bliar and Campbell had politicised gvt information. Where the @*&^ have they been for the last decade?

Anonymous said...

But from that position Brown can only go up. IF he were actually to say something important or have something important to say, he would get much more latitude from the public than Blair or Cameron.