Before I begin, I want to make it clear that this blog is not there to argue specifically about ins and outs of the situation but instead the PR operations around it. This article will look at how the Government/No 10 Downing Street, media, Boris Johnson specifically and the Police have all mounted their public relations.
On the early evening of Friday 22nd May, there was a media story that broke in the Guardian and Daily Mirror about the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser Dominic Cummings travelling over 250 miles from London to Durham over the Easter period.
Over the weekend, the story was picked through by many journalists and also the public who were all trying to see what had happened and where the most contentious elements of the story were.
When the story broke, the Government were fairly slow to react and give a clear response which would likely hold for at least the weekend. Their PR strategy was clearly to defend Cummings and ensure that the story was rebuked. The Government also put across that the Prime Minister himself, Boris Johnson, was supporting Dominic and this would continue until and after the extremely rare public statement made my Cummings in the garden in Downing Street on the 25th May.
Watch the extraordinary interview Cummings did in the garden of 10 Downing Street in full here:
Dominic Cummings works for the Government and the Prime Minister specifically - it’s important to realise that his statement and response is part of the wider PR strategy of the UK Government. The defence has been that Cummings acted “legally and responsibly” and this has been extremely defiant by Cummings, the PM and Government Ministers.
Over the weekend, Durham Police made a statement which they would then partially contradict on the same day as and just before Cummings’ press statement. Standing alone from the Government or the media, the Police changing elements of their statement intensifies the argument about the particulars of Dominic’s movements and its adherence to the law. The Police statement has now fallen in line with what Dominic Cummings’ account says and this will cause attention to the links between the Government and a seemingly-independent Police force. Durham Police have also confirmed there will be a full investigation into Cummings’ movements to see if there has been any breaches of the law.
Over the Coronavirus pandemic, Police forces across the country have come under heavy media scrutiny themselves for heavy-handed tactics to enforce the law around the lockdown restrictions, or indeed not being strict enough to put the law into practice. Some members of the public have always had bad relationships with the Police and see them as corrupt or self-serving. This situation and the intense focus on it will not help the public relations between the general public and the Police as a whole. Many will see the Police being in hand with the Government and changing the story to help the Prime Minister bat off some of the criticism of Dominic’s movements and the Government’s response to it.
Boris Johnson and the Government machine has been defending Dominic Cummings as calls for the latter to resign as a senior advisor intensify. On Saturday evening the official opposition to the Government, Labour, came out in support of Cummings either resigning or being sacked. From a PR point of view, this may have worried the Government because of the pressure his opposite number in Parliament applied.
There has been a very careful management of the public messaging from the Government around the Coronavirus lockdown however this has been marred in the last fortnight with a edit in UK Government messaging. Since the story broke of Dominic’s travels to Durham on Friday, the public relations of the Government have been damaged because they have not been seen to hook into the public mood.
When a body like the Police or Government is not seen to meet its messaging with a vocal public opposition, this can push the public away and erode trust. The possible outcome of the fury over the Cummings story is the popularity of the Government is severely damaged and this affects its electoral chances.
Dominic Cummings acknowledged that he made a public statement too late, hinting that the Government realises the story has continued for longer than expected - however he did not put forward an apology.
During all of this, it’s important to remember the media and the actions of news outlets play into the public discourse. On Sunday, there was a picture posted on social media by someone in the London neighbourhood Dominic Cummings in which you see about 15 photographers from the press huddled together outside his front gate and not obeying the social distancing rules.
A picture like this alone cuts deep with the public in a situation which sees a Government adviser apparently breaking Government guidelines. The irony and hypocrisy being that the photographers are doing the same thing that their outlets are heavily criticising.
The media also have a role to play in how long this story hangs around, and the effectiveness of the Government PR strategy rests partly in the editor’s hands. The Government will want this to come off the front pages as soon as possible because seeing an unelected official dominate headlines and TV news channels isn’t helpful to the discipline it’s trying to assert when it comes to Coronavirus guidelines. The media have a call to make about how much they perpetuate this story and how much they make a rod for their own back.
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Take away the nuances of the particular argument, the public relations of the Government, media, police and Boris Johnson have been disastrous. Even when the Cummings affair comes out the news bulletins, the impact for all of these organisations will be felt for a very long time.
Senior officials will be looking over the strategy their organisation took and how they could have done it better. The reputation of the organisations I have mentioned will be somewhat damaged as the story has come out the political narrative and into the public conversation.
Whatever the impact - whether Dominic Cummings stays or goes, or if the Police investigation will find Cummings broke the law or not will play out, but the public mood and attitudes will be there for long after.
About the Creator
Hugo Sugg
28 years young and a Homeless Campaigner / Self-proclaimed Londoner / Podcaster / Politics geek / Human Rights activist / Youth Worker / Humanist / Cocktail lover / Twitter addict (@HugoSugg) / ex-barista
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