Broadcasters, unlike their counterparts in the press, often get exceptionally close to political leaders at times of high emotion, perhaps in the aftermath of a critical speech or at the end of a tense television interview. Adam Boulton and Joey Jones offer an engaging insight into the behind-the-scenes dramas of the 2010 general election and the subsequent high-wire talks to form a coalition government.
Key moments are brought to life: David Cameron was so distraught at being beaten by Nick Clegg in the first of the three televised debates that “his sleepless nights” were “haunted by the thought of those whose careers he had damned”. In his first waking moment after the inconclusive election result of the night before, Cameron told himself: “Aim high; if you fall short, at least you tried.” Gordon Brown’s assessment of his disastrous “Bigotgate” encounter with Gillian Duffy was his “worst day in politics” and his first words after failing to land a knockout punch on the economy in the final televised debate against Cameron and Clegg were: “I’m so sorry.”
Sky News has earned considerable respect for its political coverage and Adam Boulton and Joey Jones, two journalists on the inside track, provide fresh analysis of an historic turn of events. But the authors of this pacey book face the same dilemma as their colleagues in print. Both Boulton and Jones feel obliged to protect their sources so their take on the innermost thoughts of Cameron, Clegg and Brown often emerge through the words of anonymous friends and colleagues.
Such is the reputation of the Sky News political editor and his deputy, though, that few would challenge the accuracy of their quotes and, to their credit, they go much further than their compatriots in the Westminster lobby in trying to reveal the influence of Andy Coulson, Cameron’s chief political and media fixer. For most political correspondents Coulson appears to be a no go area when it comes to giving a meaningful commentary on his conduct and responsibilities in Downing Street. His salary of £140,000 a year as Number 10’s director of communications is second only to that of the Prime Minister.
While there is no lack of reportage about the potential implications of the re-opened Scotland Yard investigation into phone hacking during his time as editor of the News of the World, the lobby does seem to respect the no entry sign which Coulson has erected around the work he does for the Prime Minister.
Political journalists can hardly be blamed for their reluctance to break confidences with Cameron’s head of spin. No reporter wants to fall foul of the PM’s right hand man when the coalition is still enjoying an extended honeymoon with most of the news media and has been delivering a master class in the art of dishing out exclusive stories to trail government announcements.
Coulson keeps the lowest possible profile; newspaper readers will look in vain for interviews and, unlike Alastair Campbell, who was addicted to self-publicity, Coulson has no intention of becoming a personality. But six months into the coalition government there is a dearth of information about the role he plays.
Needless to say, my appetite was whetted immediately I read Boulton’s account of Coulson’s “controlling nature” during the negotiations over the leaders’ televised debates. “It felt like there was not a pie without a Coulson finger embedded in it”.
Boulton, who had lunch with Coulson in the run up to the discussions with party chiefs over the format for the programmes, suggests that at a moment of soul searching Coulson might “confess to a desire to control things too much”; but it is “not a fault that he tries particularly hard to remedy”.
Coulson’s presence briefing journalists during the critical moments in the election campaign gets frequent mentions and once Conservative spinners do their utmost to destabilise Nick Clegg’s performance in the televised debates, Boulton has no hesitation in asserting that the “hand of the former tabloid editor Andy Coulson could be perceived in a clutch of stories critical of Lib Dem policies”.
Jonny Oates, the Liberal Democrats’ head of communications, was up against a “paucity of resources” as he tried to “stem the tide of negative stories” and it left Clegg and his team with “precious little energy to try to break through with a positive message”.
Again, Boulton and Jones display a fascinating eye for detail: while Clegg was waiting for his much delayed declaration, Oates slept through the Liberal Democrats’ “most traumatic night” convinced that no party would emerge with an overall majority. But over the next few days Oates played a key part in shoring up his “notoriously leaky party to maintain strict secrecy” around the coalition negotiations. I agree with the conclusion of Hung Together that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have been far more successful than many observers expected in their ability to co-ordinate their messages as part of a coalition government.
Oates became Coulson’s deputy in Downing Street and, between them, they have managed to merge two formerly opposing teams of party propagandists. Among the political apparatchiks of Westminster, spin doctors are easily the most tribalist, so their achievement is worthy of recognition.
The give and take between Cameron and Clegg has worked its way all the way down to the briefers and spinners. After the publication of legislation on the alternative vote and the announcement of an inquiry into alleged collusion with torture by British intelligence, Coulson is quoted as saying it was “a festival of Libdemmery”. Perhaps it was Joey Jones’ observation that Cameron’s “best managerial quality” is his willingness to “step back and let others do the work when it suits” which holds the key to Coulson’s survival.
Not only has Coulson kept out of the limelight, except of course from the continuing repercussions of the News of World’s phone hacking saga, but he has also done a stalwart job in keeping the media narratives going Cameron’s way and he has achieved that without the anonymous, poisonous briefings which were the grisly stock in trade of the Blairite and Brownite spin-doctors.
Campaign 2010: The Making of the Prime Minister by Nicholas Jones is published by Biteback (£9.99)
