Spin Team Analysis

In modern politics, spin doctors and public relations (PR) teams play an important role in the political process. These teams are inescapable in modern politics and have a large role in shaping how the world views politicians and their polices. A good spin team is the key to being a successful politician. This essay explores how spin teams create successful politicians by looking at a case of successful spin, Tony Blair’s win in the 1997 general election in Britain. I will first start by defining spin and what successful spin looks like. I will then provide background for the 1997 election campaign, and explore the communication problem and the audience associated. After investigating the objective of this campaign, I will then discuss the techniques used by Blair’s spin team, and how these affected the audience. Lastly, I will discuss how these techniques led to success for Blair.
Political spin uses multiple tactics to create a positive image of the politician or event one is trying to spin while maintaining a negative image for the opposition (Louw 2010, pp.102). Spin teams are
This indicates clearly that this was a case of successful spin. A combination of the techniques used and a strict spin team are what led to this success. They were able to keep a hold over their selected audience and as a result win by a landslide. His spin team was strict about the presentation of the party, and everyone was kept ‘on message’ at all times (Vallely et. al. 1997). By contrast, the Conservative party relied on tactics that had worked for them in the past instead of adapting to match the ‘new’ Labour party. As a result, their tactics were unfocused as it was unclear whether they were attacking the old or new image of Labour (Vallely et. al. 1997). This shows that Blair’s spin team was successful in their objective, as they spun a positive image of Blair and a negative image of the