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It's seventy five
years since those dread words were uttered on the BBC for the first time
..."And now a Party Political Broadcast from ..." Well a bit unfair perhaps,
they've survived a long time those broadcasts. Seventy-five years since
the first Political Broadcast on the BBC. They've changed a lot over the
years. But as Jonathan Beale reports, one thing has remained constant,
the politicians have been fighting an increasingly desperate battle to
keep us watching.
JONATHAN BEALE: Millions have tuned in and millions
more have switched over (music) but with a captive armchair audience and
complete control over the message, politicians have come to rely on the
political broadcast for guaranteed air time to sell themselves and their
party. There was a time when people would actually go to public meetings
to listen to the politicians. The Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald's first
radio broadcasts were just unedited recordings of his speeches.
RAMSAY MACDONALD: Let me welcome the goodly company
of new electors whom we have long striven to get on the register and to
whom we are now glad to appeal. May they govern their country well.
INTERVIEWER: I'm most grateful to Mr Anthony
Eden for inviting me to cross question him on the present political issues.
BEALE: But by the early days of
TV, oratory had given way to informal interviews carried out by distinctly
sympathetic questioners.
INTERVIEWER: Well now Mr Eden, with your
very considerable experience of foreign affairs it's quite obvious that
I should start by asking you something about the international situation
today or perhaps you would prefer to talk about home. Which shall it be?
BEALE: Harold Macmillan and some
of his cabinet went one step further trying to convey a new sense of intimacy
in a fireside chat.
MACMILLAN:` I think we can be fairly satisfied
the way things have gone lately, don't you Rab?
BUTLER: Yes, well we've got through
our programme very well and I've just come from the House and we're right
up to date.
BEALE: But it was never convincing
to see politicians wallow in self congratulation.
INTERVIEWER: You've lived in this house
for nine months. What do you think about it?
VOX POP: My husband and I and my
little girl think it's simply wonderful.
BEALE: They needed other people
to sing their praises and real people are still being used to persuade
those deeply suspicious of others looking for votes.
PADDY ASHDOWN: I think for anyone to say that I'm
a Liberal Democrat demonstrates clearly a fundamental belief. (follows
Vox pops of 'I vote Liberal Democrat')
BEALE: But the couple in this recent
Tory soap was straight from Central Casting. And if ordinary people aren't
interesting enough then the politicians can always look for the celebrity
endorsement.
JIMMY SAVILLE: Good evening ladies and
gentlemen, welcome indeed to this party political broadcast with a difference
if only for the fact that I'm here for a start.
JOHN CLEESE: Which of course means that
if you did vote for us we would win. Right? I mean not just do well but
actually win. In fact half the votes would give us the biggest landslide
this century - we should be so lucky.
BEALE: The man from Monty Python
also offered wit as the search continued for new ways to keep people watching.
Other parties too have used humour to whet the appetite of the electorate.
LABOUR PPB 1995: They've been producing
pork pies around here for as long as anyone can remember. Big, juicy pork
pies loved by everyone. John Major's pork pies.
GREEN PPB 1989: For years now sewage has
been dumped into the seas and now poisonous waste which is too dangerous
on land is burned at seas. Particles from the waste end up in the water
affecting the tiny organisms which are the base of the food chain. In
the end this effects seals, dolphins, fish and of course us.
BEALE: However serious the underlying
message, gimmicks may not send out the right signal. There are momentous
times when politicians want to speak as leaders of their country not just
of their party.
CHURCHILL: And so bear ourselves that if
the British Empire and its commonwealths last for a thousand years, men
will still say This was their finest hour.
BEALE: Winston Churchill's wartime
broadcasts helped shape his reputation as a world statesman and other leaders
have tried to emulate the model in peacetime.
ACTOR: He is the most talked about
politician of his generation. They've called him everything from Bambi
to Union Basher.
BEALE: In the age of television,
images have become as powerful as the words. And if that doesn't work
how about showing the leader's softer side?
NEIL KINNOCK: I think that the real privilege
of being strong is the power that it gives you to help people who are not
strong. I think the real privilege of being fit and bright and young and
strong is the ability that it gives you to give others a helping hand.
JOHN MAJOR: Immediately opposite there,
that is where we lived. Now is it still there? It is, it is... it's still
there, it's hardly changed.
BEALE: However much they play the
common man politicians are having to fight voter apathy and even cynicism
so increasingly negative campaigning has been used to appeal directly to
the disillusioned.
ACTOR: Do you remember what it
was like before the last election? What it was like at the beginning of
'79. The rubbish piled high in the streets. Ambulances left unmanned.
The dead unburied.
BEALE: Some even tried to bash
two parties at once. The future of channel hopping and more TV choice
is forcing the political parties to think again. Many want short political
adverts rather than five minute films, anything to make sure the electorate
doesn't switch off.
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