Friday, October 05, 2007

Conservative Conference Media Tarts

Each month I publish the number of times Tory politicians are mentioned in the newspapers, courtesy of analysis by Julian Nicholson from Lexis Nexis. The September list will appear on Monday. In the meantime, these are the number of mentions during the period of the Conservative conference.

Conference... (30th September - 5th October)
1David Cameron1040
2 George Osborne 397
3William Hague199
4 David Davis 115
5 Liam Fox 104
6 Michael Gove 57
7= Andrew Lansley 39
7= Alan Duncan 39
9Chris Grayling38
10 Sayeeda Warsi 37
11 Theresa May 30
12 Oliver Letwin 27
13 David Willetts 26
14 Andrew Mitchell 24
15 Caroline Spelman 22
16Grant Shapp20
17 Dame Pauline Neville-Jones 17
18= Peter Ainsworth 15
18= Theresa Villiers 15
18= Francis Maude 15
21 Nick Herbert 14
22 David Mundell 11
23= Eric Pickles 9
23= Philip Hammond 9
23= Cheryl Gillan 9
26 Jeremy Hunt 4
27 Lord Strathclyde 3
28 Patrick McLoughlin 2
29 Owen Paterson 1
30=David Lidington0
30=Baroness Anelay of St Johns0

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

10 Sayeeda Warsi

Goes to show that being high in the table is not always a good thing. Most of her mentions in the newspapers were negative.

Anonymous said...

No Boris?

Anonymous said...

Brown is not the only one who needs to do some serious thinking over the weekend. This table is meaningless. I suggest you also need a serious think about your blog and its effectiveness. Coffee House, Fawkes and Brogan are much better and deal with substance. Give it a thought Iain or are your suffering from Hubris?

Iain Dale said...

Anonymous, we only include shadow cabinet members

Howard, it's a free market. If you don't like my blog you are free not to visit it. The three blogs you mention are all excellent. I do something different. Some like it, some don't. That's life.

Anonymous said...

Iain, I do like your blog but it has gone down market over the last few weeks. What I want from a blog is stuff that is not reported in the press that provide real meat, not trivial stuff that you have reported recently. This weekend the PM will take a decision that will affect the political process in the UK for many years, and I think you should reflect on that. Do we really need to know about private parties or the number of times a person got a mention at a conference?

Iain Dale said...

Howard, I try to do a mix of things. I'm sure that the balance doesn't suit everyone, but that's an impossible aim anyway. I must be doing something right. This week has been the third most successful week in terms of visitors this year.

Please bear in mind that this is very much a personal site and I have always written about personal things. I think most of my readers like that. To be honest, I am so knackered today that I actually fell asleep this afternoon as I was typing a blogpost! So I'm sorry if today hasn't reached the heights, but I will try to do better tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

I think we get a good mix of stuff on here, personal bits/politics/scoops/etc., that is why this blog is so successful.

As Iain says if you don't like it you should spend more time on other blogs - those of us on the right are spoilt for choice at the moment.

Anonymous said...

where is boris, was he higher than cameron?

Ted Foan said...

Iain - what does Howard want you to be? A political journalist? Better go and get yourself a permanent day job - you could be the new Simon Heffer!

No, stick to your formula, Iain: I like it and, apparently so do a few other sad geeks who have got nothing better to do than read your pearls of wisdom and then tell you they think you are deluded.

But we do fret when you disappear from the radar for hours on end after trysting with Ms Widdecombe. If you do that again please ring to let us know when you'll be back!

Anonymous said...

Oh God I just came reading this most excellent blog. No really. Sorry. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Iain, OK. Enough said. I trust my comments are taken in a positive way. The decision that Brown makes this weekend will have a profound affect on politics and the country for some years and on him personally. I suggest this blog has not reflected that.

PaulD said...

This is bollox. Baroness Anelay of St Johns gets more mentions (0) than Boris (-1, i.e. not even listed)???

PaulD said...

Indeed I'm beginning to think Iain has a downer on Boris. Despite my nudging, he still has not mentioned that Boris's forum contains the most penetrating analysis of the iniquitous smoking ban you will find anywhere on the internet, fuelled by over 1600 posts.

http://www.boris-johnson.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=27&page=1

Anonymous said...

So, David Lidington has no media profile, does he? Really? Are you sure?

I must have imagined this story in the Bucks Herald on the 28th September then. Check your facts and don't have a go at a decent man.


Aylesbury MP joins in coffee morning fundraiser

David Lidington MP, and Aylesbury Conservative Association would like to thank everyone who joined in the fun by taking part in the World's Biggest Coffee Morning, raising nearly £200 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
'It was a great event and everyone really enjoyed themselves. It is amazing that simply enjoying a cup of coffee and having a chat can make a difference to people affected by cancer,' said David Lidington.

Every cup of coffee drunk at events like's Aylesbury Conservative Association's in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support has helped raise money that will go towards providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support to people living with cancer.

CiarĂ¡n Devane, chief executive, said: "I'd like to say a massive thank you to the Aylesbury Conservatives and Aylesbury residents for joining the World's Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support. Cancer affects us all and simply having a cup of coffee is a great way to help Macmillan be there for more people with cancer."

Anonymous said...

There is no point blaming Iain for the lack of Boris.

I did not include him in my analysis as, no matter his public profile, he is not in the Shadow Cabinet.

However, for those who wish to know Boris Johnson received 129 mentions in the media over the same period as the table above.