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Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s adverts attacking Rishi Sunak will not work because they \u201ccome out of thin air\u201d, an advertising guru has warned.<\/p>\n
Lord Maurice Saatchi, whose firm masterminded the infamous \u201cLabour isn\u2019t working\u201d poster in 1979, said Mr Starmer\u2019s claims about the prime minister, which targeted the his record on crime, had come \u201cout of nowhere\u201d.<\/p>\n
The founder of Saatchi and Saatchi said negative campaigning in politics is \u201cabsolutely essential and correct\u201d. But to be effective, Lord Saatchi said such adverts must be based on \u201ca real philosophical viewpoint\u201d or \u201cserious thought\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy objection to these Labour posters would be that they come from nowhere,\u201d he told LBC.<\/p>\n
The Labour Party last week launched a series of adverts directly linking the prime minister to issues including child sex abuse, gun crime and theft.<\/p>\n
One claimed that Mr Sunak does not think child sex abusers should go to prison, while another said he thinks adults convicted of possessing a gun should be spared jail. A poster this week saw the party take aim at Mr Sunak\u2019s wife after The Independent revealed she avoided tax by claiming non-dom status.<\/p>\n
Lord Saatchi said: \u201cIf you want these negative campaigns to be effective, they have to start from a real philosophical viewpoint, a serious thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt cannot start out of thin air, like these.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Tory chairman said negativity on its own does not sell unless it is an \u201cexpression of what is judged to be wrong with the opposing party\u201d.<\/p>\n
Saatchi and Saatchi\u2019s classic 1978 poster<\/p>\n
Referring to his famous \u201cLabour isn\u2019t working\u201d poster, he said: \u201cThat image, and that phrase \u2018Labour isn\u2019t working\u2019, and the dole queue did express something completely fundamental to conservative philosophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt expressed the basic conservative view of a Labour government, which is that it may be very caring and it may want to do very nice things. But if it is incompetent in looking after the money, then it is not going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite saying Labour\u2019s adverts will not work, Lord Saatchi said he had \u201cno criticism\u201d of them for being \u201clow\u201d. The party was accused of descending into \u201cgutter politics\u201d for the posters, but Mr Starmer said he \u201cstands by every word\u201d of his criticisms of Mr Sunak.<\/p>\n
Lord Saatchi said it is the job of a politician to point out their opponents\u2019 problems, comparing campaigning to a boxing match: \u201cWhen you are in a general election campaign, you are in the boxing ring, and your opponent has hit you in the face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you going to do now? There is only one thing to do now, which is to land a blow on your opponent\u2019s chin which knocks him out. And that\u2019s what is required. That\u2019s why you won\u2019t hear a word of criticism from me about negative campaigning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s adverts attacking Rishi Sunak will not work because they \u201ccome out of thin air\u201d, an advertising guru has warned. Lord Maurice Saatchi, whose firm masterminded the infamous \u201cLabour isn\u2019t working\u201d poster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n