The PR winners and losers from Andy Burnham's first two weeks as PM
Cost of living, social care, education, industrial plans - and a new media policy. What the new government means for comms pros so far
The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.
Two weeks in and we are starting to see what an Andy Burnham premiership might look like, at least in terms of its priorities.
And it is fair to say that although he plans to work inside the 2024 manifesto, there are some significant divergences between PM Burnham and Keir Starmer, in both substance and style.
So, here are some of my thoughts and insight on the direction of travel of this government. What is going to be important and what is not? Let’s talk abou how Burnham seems set to be significantly changing the traditional political media model and what it all might mean to PR and comms teams.
And as a former special adviser in government, I must warn you it does come with a chunky health warning – after all, he wouldn’t be the first Prime Minister to be blown off course by events and political reality.
Media policy: Burnham’s approach to comms has been distinctive to say the least. The plan has clearly been to concentrate on appealing to a younger audience on social media and other platforms rather than engaging as much with mainstream media. One key adviser is Abby Tomlinson who set up the Milifandom movement on Tumblr and Twitter to defend Ed Miliband while others are also very much children of social media. This is partly an effort to ward off the threat of strong social media performers like Nigel Farage.
I think there are a couple of issues at play here.
