The previous week’s cut through was Farage entering the race. But if ever there was a week in an election campaign to understand what a ‘cut through’ issue really is, it was Week 3 of this 2024 election campaign. Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have noticed 6 June was the 80th anniversary of D Day. And that Sunak, with a prime time PM moment on every news bulletin, slipped home to do a pre-recorded TV interview instead of hanging out with the other world leaders.
Billed as a huge slight to ‘traditional Britain’, the very core voters the Tories have been relentlessly pitching at during the entire campaign so far and who now they are going head to head to win against Nigel Farage, it was a massive own goal. It may well be the ‘Jennifer’s ear’ or ‘bigot-gate’ of this election. The focus groups will be chatting about this every week until election day.
As a general rule, your election campaign has gone off track when you are being asked on the broadcast round on the Sunday political shows whether your leader will quit before polling day. This is what Tory minister Mel Stride encountered over the weekend on Sky News following the backlash over Rishi Sunak’s decision.
This really is the campaign of political self-inflicted injuries.
Commenti