Thoughts on our Campaign Press Launch, April 2015
It has been one of the recurring bug bears of trying to get our political party up and running and publicised, that whenever we are entitled to a little bit of coverage, the coverage that we have actually been given has generally been the niggardly minimum that the BBC can get away with.
As part of standing in the General Election or any major election the rules say that we are entitled to a press launch to be covered by being mentioned on the BBC News and on the BBC website and perhaps also an interview on the BBC’s Politics Show.
Over the years the BBC have chosen to minimise the effectiveness of that coverage by various means. On one occasion they showed supporters milling about rather than the display we had organised or anybody making a speech. On other occasions they have panned around to show that the rest of the room is quite empty. Of course they knew that it would be as this is a completely artificial arrangement, designed only to get some publicity rather than proper meeting! On some occasions they have shown me making a speech but done a voice over of whatever not so encouraging thing they wanted to say about us!
So on this occasion I thought there wasn’t much point in making a great effort to prepare a detailed speech. So, of course, this is the first occasion where they have actually broadcast my speech, or, at any rate, part of it, on the BBC Parliament Channel! Here is a link to view the outcome of that >>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05qqfjp/election-2015-english-democrats-campaign-launch.
Naturally had I known that they were going to broadcast 10 minutes of speech, I would have made sure that it was much more punchy and slick. I would also have focussed more on covering the key points as to why England is so badly disadvantaged by the current constitutional arrangements.
On the bright side, perhaps what they have done in this case is part of the growing recognition of the English Democrats. In future I may need to expect my speech to be covered! If so, I can promise far less um’s and r’s!
What do you think of the video?
Also here is what was put up on the BBC website >>> Election 2015: English Democrats launch campaign with attack on 'traitors' - BBC News
What do you think?
A car crash. You can only hope that not too many people saw it. A dozen supporters in a dingy London pub. It was nothing to do with hm's and r's, or the wicked BBC; you just messed up.The city was wrong, the venue was wrong and the message was wrong. What is anyone to make of a load of guff about hanging drawing and quartering? Just as you were beginning to make a bit of case about support running out for Ukip, you ran out of time. Talk about being out of touch with ordinary people's concerns.
ReplyDeleteit wasn't that bad, but it could have been better. It was hardly the stuff to stir the heart of a red-blooded Englishman. Robin was almost comatose.
DeleteHalf the party's candidates are in South Yorkshire. That is a good place for the support to be. It means that the party can build outwards from there. Ideally the launch should probably have been in Leeds, but because the BBC is in Manchester, that is where it should have been,
ReplyDeleteThe strategy has to be South Yorkshire -> West Yorkshire -> Greater Manchester. That is where the effort must be concentrated over the coming years. Forays into the South and South East will continue to be a waste of scarce resources for decades. Standing only one candidate in Greater Manchester, when an excellent candidate was a available, is a mistake, Putting up someone in Berwick is a bit of fun, but for Stephen Morris to stand in Monmouth is dumb. The ordinary English voter will not understand why it was done, and couldn't care less if they did. The thought of stirring up a border war will put off potential voters, who will say that if the price of English independence is border disputes, better to stay with the status quo. I doubt, either, if too many tears would be shed if the good people of Berwick were to decide for the town to become Scottish.
Might I suggest that you have a manifesto launch, this time in Manchester, (with appearances on Calendar and Look North for South Yorkshire if possible) and see if you can repair some of the damage done by the 'Campaign Launch'.
Here in the rural north with the prospect of gaining more autonomy from Westminster the cry has gone out not to let us be ruled from Manchester of Leeds either. The launch should have been in York, the northern capital, the Viking capital and in the heartland of resistance. The only problem would be that those in industrial Yorkshire and Lancashire, Lincolnshire etc might view York as being a bit too posh.
Delete