Conservative leadership race: TV debates and the role of newspapers
Since Boris Johnson resigned, the power of traditional media has been felt amongst the candidates vying for press backing and Tory voters.
You could be forgiven for believing newspapers hold little relevance in today’s climate, but this Tory leadership race has been built on coverage.
“Even in an age when Twitter drives much of the day-to-day discussion in Westminster, the print editions of a handful of newspapers – and their proprietors – still hold substantial power over internal Conservative politics,” writes the Guardian.
Penny Mordaunt’s popularity has dipped both amongst Tory MPs and Tory Party members – according to polls.
The Daily Mail is backing Truss as it makes clear at it believes the ousting of Boris Johnson was a mistake. Rishi Sunak is in the Mail’s firing line as they blame him the most for the downfall of Johnson’s government – arguably the double shock resignation of Sunak and former health secretary Sajid Javid triggered the mass resignation of MPs, leading to Boris Johnson’s resignation.
The day following the resignation, the paper’s front page asked “What the hell have they done?” and the following day, the 1.4 million people who buy the Mail’s Saturday’s print were told MPs such as Sunak were “Tory traitors” who had opened the doors to Labour entering Downing Street.
For Tories – winning the support of the Telegraph, Times, Mail, Sun and the Daily Express is massively important as it may be in the pool of roughly 100,000 Tory members who will select the next PM.
But newspaper endorsements are also in part a self-fulfilling prophecy – a symbolic victory that is seen as giving momentum to a leadership campaign making it easier for MPs and party members to come on board with a candidate for victory.
The paper’s attack on Penny Mordaunt is to ensure Liz Truss makes it to the final two – with the hope the papers could help her get over the line and become prime minister.
The strong support for Johnson is somewhat jarring considering up until last autumn, the paper was fairly critical of the prime minister. But a change of editor, and the newspaper is now one of Boris Johnson’s most loyal papers.
Several Tory candidates chose to launch their bids in the Daily Telegraph – the in-house outlet of the Tory party.
The Express has a pro-Tory editorial line but is edited by a lifelong Labour supporter – Gary Jones, who used its front page to emphasise how the PM’s allies are promoting Truss to stop Sunak.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned The Sun and the Times are known for liking to back winners and might wait until we’re down to the final two to formally back their favoured candidate.
The role of the TV debates
The TV debates were the other major component in the Tory leadership race that highlighted the viciousness of this political era. With the ITV debate proving to be a ‘little short of a disaster for the Tory party.’
The ITV debate saw senior Tory ministers and MPs lay into each other publicly, the audience may not be used to this much blue-on-blue arguing.
Some of the highlights include Rishi Sunak accusing Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt of being socialists – not a compliment for a Tory.
Whilst Truss slammed Sunak for raising taxes to record levels.
Penny Mordaunt attacked the others for the cheap personal attacks she had been facing in the days running up to the debate – especially over the trans debate and her definition of being a woman.
Sunak still shone as the strongest in the TV debates, despite most of the criticism being directed at him, his time in Boris Johnson’s government taught him the art of deflecting the questions.
For the right of the party, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt both had good and bad moments.
The ITV debate had such an underlying nastiness to it, that Tory MPs were begging the candidates to stop. The Daily Express reported that it was not the spectacle being watched by small audiences which worried them but “a vast armoury” of social media clips and GIFs being harvested from the debates for Labour to attack whoever wins and the Conservative Party in general.
Following the ITV debate, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss withdrew from the planned Sky News debate – which was set to take place a few days after. This led to Sky News pulling the debate altogether. Sunak and Truss have faced a backlash from the public for this move, but considering the mess that was the ITV debate, there’s no surprise why they wanted to avoid another bashing. One thing is certain, this contest was a ‘little short of a disaster for the Tory party,’ because Labour will go on to use every single blue-on-blue attack made during this debate on the actions of the future government.
Whilst one of them will in the contest and become prime minister, the Tory party has arguably already lost.
Whoever makes it to the final two will face another tv debate -this one with the BBC.
But pulling out of the Sky News debate was undeniably a mistake on Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak’s part.
One could argue it does a disservice to democracy, because whilst it’s an internal election, the public should still be able to look at what’s happenings in politics. It’s important for Tory MPs and party members to see how candidates perform under scrutiny – there’s also a general election in 2024.
The Independent argues “it would be a good idea to set up an independent commission to allow Ofcom to pit debates on a statutory footing so the parties cannot pick and choose what suits them. Leaders who refuse to attend should be empty-chaired.”
There’s polling evidence that suggests TV debates boost voter engagement in politics – especially and perhaps crucially among younger people. The ITV debate saw the damage done to the party, but not engaging in TV debates could prove more damaging in the long run.
Update – Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss agree to new Sky News debate
Tory leadership finalists – Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head on a Sky News debate after controversially pulling out of a previous appearance.
Sky snagged the hour-long showdown for August and it is expected to be hosted by broadcaster Kay Burley.
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