After Thatcher, it’s back to business

Working in advertising, it’s easy to become flippant and cynical.

But I must say; if there’s one thing I’ve really enjoyed in the past two weeks, it has been the spicy political discourse surrounding Thatcher’s legacy.

In an era of evasive, centrist rhetoric, it’s been great to see people getting really wound up about the £10m funeral, the effect her premiership has had on the British character, and... anything else for that matter.

For me, it actually illuminates the irrationality of hatred aimed at David Cameron. I'm alarmed by his creeping privatisation, but ultimately he’s a moderate who flip-flops on hotter policy points.

So when a red-faced ranter derides the coalition in this way, I think it lacks perspective. Get a grip - try living under Thatcher!

Now there was a politician you could get your teeth into. She was a union bashing, poll taxing, milk stealing power-haircut. Looking back, it seems like everyone hated her, and yet she kept winning elections!

Actually, in branding terms, she is fascinating. You cannot run a government without making compromises and yet her legacy is all about conviction. Furthermore, to watch her speak now in old interviews is actually quite boring. There’s a jaded quality in her nasal voice that doesn’t seem to match the fire and brimstone we hear about her.

In this respect, her politics are Right-wing, but her communication style is still moderate.
What we have now are politicians who are moderate and communication that is even more moderate. This is why so many people are switching off and abstaining from voting at elections.

It sometimes feels like aggressive journalists have forced politicians down this route. An MP comes on the news, and is so focused on not being caught out that they fail to say anything meaningful. They obfuscate their own viewpoints with bleached rhetoric and over-rehearsed soundbites.

I feel that the value of dynamic dialogue is being trampled. PMQs is an exciting exception, but here again language is the key. ‘The right honourable gentleman’ is how MPs address each-other, and this simple style of etiquette is hugely alienating to the public at-large.

For many voters, the communication of the current political class is easily-ignored prattle. It bores people, and unchecked, threatens democracy. This must change if we are to have effective policies that improve Britain as a place to live and work.

There’s a phrase we use in advertising that isn’t being applied in mainstream politics. When you’re trying to flog one identical product over another, you try to boil the messaging down to make it simpler than your competitors.

Going forward, I hope our politicians speak less, but say more.