Digital modernity has reached the world of political campaigning. Reform’s new video is the first party political broadcast to use AI imagery and it opens as a movie trailer for a film entitled ‘Labour’s Britain.’ Swelling orchestral music and a growling voiceover introduce us to an X-rated horror show. The opening image depicts Gordon Brown flogging ingots to international traders at knockdown prices.
‘From the people that sold the gold,’ intones the voiceover, ‘we bring you Labour’s Britain.’
The trailer leads us through the three worst blunders of the new government. Robbing the elderly, surrendering to the unions and failing to stop the boats. The removal of the winter fuel allowance is illustrated by an image of two fearful pensioners, wrapped in layers of woollies, trembling with horror. They look as if they’re about to be eaten by cannibals. Their abandonment is contrasted with the bribes being snaffled up by Labour parliamentarians.
‘Free clothing, glasses, accommodation and tickets,’ says the voiceover, ‘as long as you’re a Labour MP.’
Then the film gets personal. It takes aim at three cabinet ministers and tries to saddle them with embarrassing nicknames. This is a Trumpian tactic and it’s hard to calibrate it exactly. Trump scored direct hits with ‘Crooked Hillary’ and ‘the Biden crime family’ but his nickname for the Vice President, ‘Comrade Kamala’, hasn’t cut through. A successful insult needs to be blunt, vicious and believable.
Reform has tried its best but without doing much damage. Ed Miliband is ‘Red Ed’ (too bland). Rachel Reeves is ‘robbing Rachel’ (too corny). Angela Rayner is ‘well-dressed Angela’ (too oblique and ironic.) The film attacks Starmer in the same way by using the popular tag ‘free gear Keir’. That smear will make him squirm – but he’ll get over it.
The most pointed assault on the PM appears on the screen for a few brief seconds as the voiceover mentions ‘free accommodation.’ It shows a double bed with a greetings card propped against a luxurious scarlet pillow. The visual atmosphere is charged with romanticism. On the card, a handwritten message reads, ‘Home sweet home, Love, Lord Alli.’
Elsewhere, the AI imagery is disappointing and sometimes misdirected. The depiction of Gordon Brown suggests a rakish, dark-haired movie star rather than a clueless spendthrift squandering billions of pounds. The caricature of Starmer shows him as a much younger man, slim, energetic and heroic. He looks like a brain surgeon or a helicopter pilot about to dash off and save lives.
After the movie trailer, we cut to Nigel Farage in a cinema seat. ‘Well, hey, that was entertaining,’ he says chattily. ‘But you know what? It’s all true.’ He asks viewers to support his party but he doesn’t trouble to explain why. ‘We know what we believe in,’ he says, and it’s clear that he’s speaking to his base rather than pitching for new recruits.
Having barely mentioned the Tories at all, he dismisses them out of hand. ‘Reform is the new politics,’ he says, meaning that his party should be treated as the unofficial opposition. That’s a privilege he’ll have to earn. And if Farage wants to govern he needs to find a sunnier, friendlier and more optimistic message than this dispiriting bulletin.
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