Blue is the colour (for Labour and the Lib Dems)
Dear readers,
One of the unfortunate consequences of being a political nerd like myself is that sometimes you see things that other people don’t see. I suspect that many people switching on the TV to watch keynote speeches at party conferences or watching the highlights on the news don’t realise how much preparation, planning and discussions go into these speeches – which are, in fact, choreographed down to the very last detail. One of the most fascinating aspects of party leaders’ speeches in recent years has been the colours that they have used – and by that I don’t mean what they are wearing, I mean what they are surrounded by.
Let’s start by going back to 2007 when the election-that-never-was was about to happen and the Conservatives were in serious trouble. Gordon Brown was miles ahead in the polls and all he needed to do to cement his victory in the upcoming election was to get floating Conservative voters onside. How would he achieve this? Easy: use blue.
The above photo is Gordon during his keynote address in 2007 when he was on the verge of calling the election-that-never-was. The use of a very Cameron-esque blue was clearly a deliberate ploy to appeal to those voters who were unsure about Brown and/or Cameron but could still be tempted over to his side. The cynical yet perfectly understable objective of disarming Conservative supporters was actually evident throughout the 2007 Labour conference, as demonstrated by the photo below of Brown’s interview with Mariella Frostrup.
Contrast this subtle attempt to win over stray Tories with the colours used at the 2009 Labour conference (below), when Gordon’s objective was to rally the core Labour supporters rather than extend his reach towards the Conservative and swing voters, largely due to his dire poll ratings and the decimation of his core vote over the previous two years.
The deep, thick reds left me in no doubt that his objectives and target audience had been completely turned on their head in the last two years. What’s more, Brown isn’t the only one to use blue to woo the voters. Here is a picture of Nick Clegg at his first conference speech as leader in 2008:
Interestingly, he chose to be surrounded by blacks and greys - even at the expense of using yellow. Presumably, this was intended to suggest that the party had changed under Clegg and moved away from the old centre-left days of Charles Kennedy. Personally, I think using drab neutral colours was a mistake, but it was still very deliberate. Contrast that speech, when he was trying to make his mark and not let previous anti-Lib Dem (i.e. anti-yellow) sentiment from swing voters harm his chances, against this year’s conference where the colour he chose was – yes, you guessed it – blue.
Notice that yellow has yet again largely bitten the dust in favour of blue. Whereas in 2008 Nick Clegg was trying to set his stall out and didn’t want to let stereotypes about the (yellow) Lib Dems get in the way, his mission in 2009 was to rescue all the voters that he had lost to Cameron over the last year. Clegg is obviously ‘to the right’ of the core Lib Dem voter base and knows that on many issues the Conservatives have stolen his mantle (civil liberties, environmental issues etc), which is why he spent all his time fighting the Conservatives at his 2009 conference instead of Labour. If Labour fell apart then great, but Labour weren’t stealing his 2005 votes.
I know this is just a snapshot of the choreography and planning that goes into a single speech, but always remember to watch out for who and what is around the party leaders on TV as they try to influence you. Rest assured that they won’t rely solely on what they say to convince you. Who they shake hands with as they enter and exit the stage, the route that they take on and off the stage, who is on the stage as they speak (typically PPCs from ethnic minorities and lots of women), who sits next to the leader’s spouse (did anyone see Eddie Izzard sitting next to Sarah Brown at the 2009 Labour conference after his charity marathons?) – it’s all planned way in advance and is determined by what the party is trying to achieve and what they have therefore prioritised at any given moment.
In case you were wondering, I don’t buy any of this because I know what I’m looking for, but I wonder if anyone else is influenced by it….
Fascinating!
Great stuff, but should have posted BEFORE the conference season. Then you could have had a running comentary throughout on the parlour tricks being played by the spinmeisters.
Thanks Julia.
GOM, if I’d posted before conference season then I wouldn’t have had the photos from 2009 to illustrate the point about Labour and the Lib Dems! It’s not always easy to predict how a party will behave in advance, but their objective becomes immediately obvious once the leaders get going. There’s still Cameron’s speech to go as well.
Pale blue/green for Dave, I’d wager.
Actually, I think Dave might go for a darker blue this time (which is one of the alternative versions of the Conservative tree logo – white tree surrounded by dark blue background) as he needs to appear serious and determined, not light and fluffy.
A St Georges Flag perhaps? No!! he does not want to encourage the English,they are the only people who will be voting for him…”little Englanders” what do they matter?
Brilliantly well spotted Sir.
I had noticed the Union Jack background even as he poached some of the BNP policies, but hadn’t made the connection to earlier subliminal advertising.
Chancellor Brown used to wear a red tie, but PM Brown very often has a blue tie.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-471526/Now-hes-Prime-Minister-Brown-hangs-red-ties–swaps-blue.html
Albion, the St George’s flag will not kid anyone about how little Labour care about Britain.
Anna, don’t let Brown suck you into his Labour clan with subliminal messaging, please!!!
Bill, the ties need a whole post dedicated to them as well! Look above at the pictures of Nick Clegg, for example, who went for a dark blue (neutral) tie in his first speech as leader when he was looking to broaden his appeal before switching to bright yellow as he tried to win back his old supporters. Gordo went for a black and purple tie in his recent conference speech which, like you said, is a break from the norm over the past couple of years when he has chosen blue more often than not.
“The deep, thick reds “
Don’t talk about the delegates like that.
@Ross – Lol!
I was thinking more ,that Cameron may have the St. Georges Flag,because from some of his quotes he does not care much about England either, and please do not keep mixing the name England with the name Britain,a thing the Scots,Welsh and Irish never do with their countries.
I just dare Gordo to put up his true colour, flaming red and surround himself with it, plus play the Internationale in the background. But that would be too honest.
And what did Sarah Brown’s hideous multi-coloured frock suggest? That she’s more than a little mixed up?
Albion, fair point. It will be interesting to see how much Cameron talks about nationalism, devolution and all the related concepts.
James, honesty is never the best policy as a Labour Prime Minister.
Dorothy, anyone who goes on national television and declares that Gordon Brown is their “hero” must be a bit mixed up, IMHO.
You have just reminded me (and made me laugh out loud at the suggestion) of “Red Tories” – natural Tories who thought Brown was so good he deserved their votes at the election-that-didn’t-happen.
Hahahahahahahhaha
I’m sure they sang it today at the end of conference.
Comrades! Brothers!…
@LFAT – Point taken.
I thought Cameron would look better with a dark blue background and a circle of gold stars like a halo above.
@BS – after Blair, and to a lesser extent, St Vince of Cable, I’ve had enough of messianic leaders…
Seeing how 1945 is all the rage, how about a thick red squander bug under a big black killer heel on a light blue background with the motto, “squash it – vote Conservative”?
Add a little face of Gordon (preferably with one of his satanic grins) onto the bug and the image is complete.
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