Chancellor Rishi Sunak has arguably the best branding of any current political heavyweight.
His PR experiment reveals a lot about who the Conservatives are trying to appeal to, and the potential future of the party post-Boris. From the economic support packages he’s spearheaded, to the carefully curated social media content, and the plethora of PR trips.
The strategy so far:
First, lets look at the interventionist economic policies that Sunak has tied his personal brand to so closely. The Furlough Scheme, the Green New Deal, the Job Retention Bonus Scheme, removing Stamp Duty and the ‘Eat out to help out’ discount vouchers.
All of the above have been criticised as insufficient for the scale of crisis we currently face. This likely wont stick, as £350 billion sounds like such a large amount of money to voters, and the scale of the crisis is very hard to comprehend. A precursor to this messaging was seen in the last election, where Boris successfully pitched large sounding investments into public services, despite facing the very same criticisms.
Such policies are also more economically liberal than the public may have expected from a Tory Chancellor; perhaps even outflanking Labour to the left. Some of the decisions even broke the Treasury’s value for money rules, and Rishi Sunak personally intervened, to the dismay of some civil servants. This was highly performative.
Sunak’s economic policy is built on borrowing to invest and stimulate growth as opposed to implementing cuts and saving every possible penny. There’s even been rumours of a ‘Wealth Tax‘ or ‘Capital Gains Tax‘ to ensure that those with the broadest shoulders, carry the biggest burden in paying off the unprecedented UK government debt. Said debt is now larger than our annual GDP.
“Sunak’s policy implementations and perceived liberalism suggest an eagerness to appeal to younger voters”
A year ago, it would’ve been unthinkable for a Tory Chancellor to be considered so ‘left wing’. Are the tories finally throwing out the household finance analogy? Is it another case of big rhetoric and little material change? And to what extent has Covid-19 further blurred the traditional fault lines of politics?
The contrast with the previous Chancellor – libertarian, free marketeer Sajid Javid – is irrefutable. In fact, some are saying that the Sunak’s frantic min budgets during the pandemic are closer to the polities of Labour’s ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell than those of Sajid Javid. This is a stretch. Whilst these policies are Keynsian, they still prioritise capital over labour, big business over small, landlords over tenants.
Sunak’s policy implementations and perceived liberalism suggest an eagerness to appeal to younger voters – a huge historical tory weak spot. It seems Sunak is targeting both Millennials and Generation X: now in their late twenties, thirties and forties. Particularly those in previous ‘red wall’ seats. Traditionally, 40 has been seen as the tipping point where you’re more likely to vote tory than not.
It’s likely that the Conservative party intend to let Boris sink with the Coronavirus ship sooner or later. The party have a ruthless, well documented history of ousting leaders who have outlived their use. Sunak could well be vying to replace him.
The appeal to younger voters is compounded by Sunak’s social media game. “Dishy Rishi” has trended on Twitter more than once since lockdown begun. His branding on social media seems distinctly separate from that of the government more generally. More sleek. He also puts more emphasis on social media – as opposed to traditional media appearances – than other cabinet members.
An example of his social media strategy would be his BLM statement on Twitter, in which he appeared to slightly outflank Kier Starmer to the left again. This struck me as noteworthy, especially when contrasted with the statements of other cabinet members like Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Priti Patel, which were rather socially conservative.
Lets not forget the PR trips to workplaces that I mentioned at the top – where Sunak tried his utmost to perform working class ‘realness’. Maskless too. There’s no doubt he’s keen to be seen as ‘leading by example’, and ‘one of us’. This may be quite convincing to some, despite his immense privilege and insulation from the consequences of government decisions on ordinary people.
Will it work?
A recent YouGov poll showed that ‘fans’ of Sunak most frequently described him as “cute, confident, empathetic, fresh and assured.” The same poll showed his popularity is largest amongst Gen X (30%), then Boomers (28%). Sunak is the most popular Chancellor in fifteen years. He’s also way more popular than both Johnson and Starmer.
Is Rishi Sunak simply enjoying a honeymoon period or something more permanent? Inevitably, as the wage support initiatives wind down, some of this popularity will slip off. A lot of the tough economic decisions regarding the pandemic are yet to come.
“Attaching his personal brand so closely to our economic recovery is a gamble that could either prove fatal or a path to premiership.”
I assume that this branding strategy, if successful, will help mitigate this projected slip in public support as his wage subsidies wind down. His perceived success at addressing the demand shock, unemployment crisis and looming personal debt crisis we’re currently facing will determine how much support he retains; as will the size and length of recession, and a probable second peak.
It’s worth pointing out that, even with good polling stats, Chancellors make it to 10 Downing Street much less often than you may expect. Even if they do, often they’re tarred with the legacy of their previous role, as Gordon Brown learned during his brief stint as PM. Because this cabinet is so centralised, it is plausible that Sunak may run into the same issue.
Attaching his personal brand so closely to our economic recovery is a gamble that could either prove fatal or a path to premiership. A strong PR strategy, however, could be enough to paper over the cracks in the conservative long term economic vision, and win over new demographics necessary for future elections.
Dayna Latham
@laynadatham on Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image courtesy of Number 10 on Flickr.
