on media


The media giveth and taketh away


News outlets can make and break political careers, as party leaders are finding out, says Raymond Snoddy


Meanwhile, Sky News seemed happy to


drop everything when Farage wanted to call a press conference or make a speech. When combined with a disaffected


T


he premiership of Sir Keir Starmer may now be fading into history as the limelight turns on Prime Minister


Andy Burnham, but it is not too late to ask how big a part the media played in Sir Keir’s downfall. Te provisional answer is quite a lot,


at least in the right-wing press where his every flaw, fault and change of mind were jumped on and magnified daily. His many achievements from


Ukraine to Iran, and including an impressive list of domestic legislation, were ignored or downplayed. Sir Keir was not a conventional


politician and he clearly lacked the gift of connecting easily with the public. And, alas, the errors of judgement, such as accepting suits and glasses from a Labour millionaire and the much more serious decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as Washington ambassador, were very much of his own making. It is, however equally true that the


endless efforts of the press helped to turn a decent and honourable man into a toxic figure on the doorstep. It was said the public had made up


their mind about Sir Keir but it is equally so that a hostile media helped to make up their minds for them. Tere is, however, another major


media contribution that ultimately did for the former prime minister – the creation of the public persona of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the easy ride he and his party were given for years. Broadcasters were the main culprits,


with the BBC famously inviting Farage on to BBC One’s Question Time 39 times over the years.


rump of the population, uncritical coverage helped create the local election victory for the far-right party and months of leading in the polls. Otherwise sensible people suggested


that Farage could be a prime minister, something he believed himself. Te Daily Mail must have thought this was possible – Farage could always have a page in the paper to espouse his views. It was fear of losing their seats


together with the doorstep reaction that led Labour MPs to remove the leader who had produced a record-breaking election victory only two years ago. We now know that the deed was


done at the very moment when the air was seeping out of the Reform balloon and the career of Farage was imploding. Te media giveth and the media


taketh away. After years of largely uncritical coverage, it was the newspapers that might now have ended the political career of Nigel Farage. And, without Farage, the threat of Reform would be seriously blunted. While the media atmosphere had


turned more chilly around Farage for some months, it was two journalists – Anna Isaac, city editor of Te Guardian, and Gabriel Pogrund, head of Te Sunday Times Insight team, who landed what could be killer blows. Te more serious came from Isaac,


who revealed Farage had accepted a £5 million ‘gift’ from Christopher Harborne, a Tai-based crypto-billionaire. Farage gave several conflicting explanations for what the money was for. Ten Isaac reported that Farage is alleged to have asked for the handout to compensate for not being able to make a living in the City if he became an MP.


Te Pogrund-led tour de force


revealed Farage had accepted cash from his aide George Cottrell, who had been jailed in the US for wire fraud. Te money covered party office costs. Questions were also raised about whether Cottrell would be deemed a permissible donor given that he is apparently a tax resident of Montenegro. A Times leader suggested Reform


was in danger of repeating the mistakes of Farage’s previous political endeavours “in becoming a vehicle for chaos”. Ten came what could be the final act


of the Farage-comic opera. Many saw his decision to stand down from his Clacton seat so he could stand again and take on ‘the establishment’ as an attempt to avoid questions about finances. He decided to spend the summer


competing for his old seat with 33 others, including Count Binface, Oxford- educated comedy writer Jon Harvey. Te main parties decided not to stand. Early national polls gave Count


“


Binface a clear lead over Farage and many think he would be a far better MP for Clacton. Te count has promised to hold weekly surgeries, answer letters and emails within three days and put one family’s bin out each week. Count Binface is already a media


The story of the fight between the Reform UK leader and the man with a bin on his head has gone around the world


phenomenon. Te story of the fight between the leader of Reform UK and the man with a bin on his head has gone around the world. What of Andy Burnham? We can


predict there will be no honeymoon as far as the press is concerned. He is likely to be hounded just as much as Sir Keir Starmer ever was. As least Burnham, who began as


prime minister neck and neck with Reform in the polls, is an old political hand and might have a better chance of avoiding the more obvious bear traps that will inevitably materialise.


theJournalist | 07


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