Spin machine: Labour broadcast

Will history judge it among the greatest ever election broadcasts, ranking alongside 'Kinnock the movie' from 1987 and John Major's 'return to Coldharbour Lane' in 1992?

Labour's latest election broadcast - in which Tony Blair and Gordon Brown talk about their relationship, policies and plans for the country - generated much coverage before it was even shown.

Not all of it has been praise, however, with a fair amount of criticism aimed at its schmaltzy, soft-focus style.

The portrayal of a close relationship between the prime minister and chancellor has also raised eyebrows among commentators.

Put together by Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, the broadcast showed Blair and Brown chatting to each other in the prime minister's Commons office.

They are seen sharing a joke about tough budget discussions. "There is never an endless amount of money," says Blair, to which Brown adds: "I know that!"

Amid the discussion of politics and policy, it adopts the traditional election broadcast approach of intercutting the talking heads with graphics displaying party messages.

It is, however, in contrast to much recent Conservative advertising which has focussed on Michael Howard's specific headline grabbing policies rather than underlying values.

If there is an area where the film breaks new ground, it is in the admission - albeit oblique - of past divisions between the two men.

In a section of the film about their relationship, Brown says: "It is about working as a team, it is about trying to break new ground all the time. People have different attributes that they can bring to teamwork."

Blair replies: "I think it is about recognising that whatever the difficulties and whatever the tensions - there are a few from time to time - but actually it is a partnership that has worked, it has done a lot for the country."

Perhaps the admission is politically possible because coverage of previous disagreements has been so widespread, but if it is the start of an attempt to be slightly more honest about important issues in British politics then it should be welcomed.

Tory dismissal

The Conservatives, however, have dismissed the broadcast.

Ahead of their own video showing various members of the public - not all of them party members, we are assured - backing Tory policies, co-chairman Liam Fox brushed aside the Labour effort.

"Unlike Labour we don't have politicians talking to politicians," he said on Monday.

Will the public relate to politicians talking to politicians? Both men do manage to talk about the values that drive them.

Blair stresses the importance of preparing for the future and developing policies for 'the many not the few'.

"In other words the basic value is always the same," says the prime minister.

"How do we create a society where everybody, not just the few, get the chance to succeed?

"That's the basic motivation, that's why I'm in the Labour Party and not the Tory party."

Ultimately, Labour's broadcast doesn't tell us anything new about either of its two stars, their beliefs or their policies.

It lacks the punch of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock's famous 1987 broadcast.

In a statement on social justice, that film included the memorable rhetorical question: "Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?"

Humility

And similarly Major's 1992 election broadcast introduced the public to his humble background, seeing him driven down Brixton's Coldharbour Lane to his former family home.

"I was unemployed and I remember vividly what it was like to spend your mornings looking for a job often vainly and your afternoons wondering what would happen the next day," the then prime minister said.

Labour's broadcast lacks anything as memorable as either of those two scenes.

Even the film footage of Blair and Brown talking warmly together would not in itself be interesting, were it not for the absence of such public conversations for most of the time Labour has held office.

On the plus side, it does convincingly portray two heavyweight politicians who ultimately have the same goals and ambitions, whatever their personal rivalries.

Labour will be hoping that the viewers who tuned in long enough to watch the broadcast share those same views.