Labour ‘attack ads’, the political campaigns that have cut through and their impact on elections
Labour is continuing to face a backlash over its social media posts criticising Rishi Sunak’s record – but the party is far from the first to use so-called dirty tricks to win over voters.
One of the earliest and most famous attack ads was used by Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater in the 1964 US Presidential election.
Known as “Daisy”, the ad showed a little girl plucking petals from a flower before a nuclear blast filled the screen. “These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God’s children can live”, said a voiceover by Johnson in the background.
The message – that Goldwater’s approach to the Cold War could lead to nuclear annihilation – was not lost on the American people, who voted in Johnson two months later.
The ad pioneered negative political advertising, which soon made its way across the Atlantic.
Here, Sky News looks at some of the most memorable attack ads in British politics – and their impact on elections.
Labour isn’t working
The ‘Labour isn’t working’ campaign is considered one of the most influential attack adverts in British politics
A decade on from Daisy, a 1979 poster for the Conservative Party declaring “Labour isn’t working” heralded the arrival of US-style political advertising in the UK.
Created by Saatchi and Saatchi, the ad showed a picture of a snaking dole queue outside an unemployment office.
The designers planned to use 100 extras but only 20 from the Hendon Young Conservatives showed up – so the effect was achieved by photographing the same people over again and striping them together.
Labour’s Denis Healey denounced this in parliament, claiming that the Conservatives were “selling politics like soap powder”.
But his criticism served only to generate widespread newspaper coverage of the poster- which came to define Margaret Thatcher’s victorious election campaign.
Labour’s tax bombshell
The Conservative’s ’ 1992 Tax Bombshell poster helped secure another election victory
Maurice Saatchi also developed a poster widely credited with swinging the 1992 election in the Conservatives’ favour.
In response to Labour’s budget plans aimed at leaving eight out of ten families better off, the Tories created a giant poster of a bomb and the tagline: “Labour’s tax bombshell: You’d pay £1,250 more tax a year under Labour.”
It tapped into voters’ concerns that Labour’s tax and spending plans would hurt ordinary people, and helped to propel John Major to an unexpected victory.
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Tony Blair’s eyes
The Blair devil eyes campaign created a lot of noise but ultimately didn’t gel with the public
Not all the Conservatives’ attack ads have been successful. The 1997 Tony Blair’s eyes campaign generated many headlines but failed to prevent a Labour landslide victory.
It showed a picture of a smiling Tony Blair with a strip containing his eyes torn away and replaced with demon eyes. “New Labour, New Danger,” ran the slogan beneath.
An ad industry magazine named it their campaign of the year, claiming it had successfully played on public doubts about Mr Blair as well as generating £5m worth of publicity on the back of £125,000 spend.
But the Advertising Standards Authority received 150 complaints, including one from the Bishop of Oxford.
The image also did not gel with voters. Labour won a 179-seat majority at the 1997 election – ending 18 years of Conservative government
Be Afraid
A Labour poster depicting Tory leader William Hague’s face with the hair style of Margaret Thatcher
In previous elections, Labour adverts were generally seen as being one step behind the more ruthless attacks from their opponents.
But that changed when Blair recruited top ad executive Trevor Beattie – whose famous work included the Wonderbra “Hello Boys” poster and French Connection’s “FCUK” campaign.
Beattie was also the brains behind Labour’s 2001 “Be Afraid” posters depicting Tory leader William Hague with Thatcher’s hair at No 10.
While Blair reportedly had concerns the campaign was flippant, his communications director, Alistair Campbell, persuaded him it was funny while making a “really powerful negative point”.
Gene Hunt
This ad backfired on Labour during the 2010 election
Labour rolled up its sleeves again in 2010, with a poster depicting then Tory leader David Cameron as Gene Hunt, the politically incorrect star of Ashes to Ashes.
Cameron was pictured above the words: “Don’t let him take Britain back to the 1980s.”
But the move backfired when the Tories adopted the image and replaced the slogan with: “Fire up the Quattro. It’s time for change.”
Miliband in Salmond’s pocket
In 2015, the Tories ran ads depicting Ed Miliband as being in the pocket of the SNP
In 2015, having lost the 2010 election, Labour said it would not use Cameron in any of its advertising and focus on “issues not personalities”.
But the Tories made no such promise and depicted Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond’s pocket, in posters warning about the threat of an SNP-Labour coalition.
Although Miliband ruled this out, the message cut through to the public and dominated much of the general election debate.
An internal inquiry into Labour’s 2015 election defeat said allowing the Conservatives to raise the threat of the SNP in government impacted the result.
Corbyn ‘chlorinated chicken’
While some political strategists argue negative attacks are key to winning elections, MPs have expressed concern they can drag down standards in public debate, isolating voters.
In September 2019, the Conservatives were accused of “silly playground behaviour” by their own party after launching a campaign depicting Jeremy Corbyn as a chicken over his decision to block an early general election.
The Conservatives’ Twitter account shared a doctored image of the former Labour leader in a chicken suit, with the caption: “Hey (KFC), we’ve found an even bigger chicken than you.”
Brexit bus
Vote Leave’s NHS Brexit Bus claim was one of the most contentious claims during the referendum
Not all of the most memorable political adverts in recent years have been attacks.
The claim that the NHS would get an extra £350m a week if the UK left the EU, emblazoned on the side of a big red bus, was a key element of the successful Vote Leave campaign.
While factually dubious it sent a message to the public that Britain sends a lot of money to Europe that could be spent on domestic issues – something which cut through to ordinary voters.
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As Sky’s political correspondent Rob Powell points out, Labour’s recent controversial claim that Rishi Sunak doesn’t want to see child abusers jailed is a tactic taken straight out of Vote Leave playbook.
Broadly speaking, this works by disseminating dubious and inflammatory content, waiting for a backlash that amplifies the message before sending out spokespeople to stand by the campaign and give it a longer media shelf life.
The result is that amid the maelstrom of outrage and the process of journalists picking apart the accuracy of the suggestions, most ordinary voters only really perceive the core message.
Labour party Tweet
In 2016, that message was that the UK sends a lot of money to the EU.
In Labour’s recent case, it’s that the Tories have gone soft on crime.
UK
Gregg Wallace: Over half of allegations against MasterChef presenter upheld, including one of unwanted physical contact
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
Last week it emerged Wallace had been sacked as MasterChef presenter, with reports of more than 50 fresh allegations against him.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants. The investigations team spoke to Wallace three times for the report, conducting 14 hours of interviews with him.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were upheld. All were related to MasterChef.
The upheld allegations were:
• Twelve claims he made inappropriate jokes and innuendo;
• Sixteen reports he made sexually explicit comments;
• Two allegations that he made sexualised comments to or about someone;
• Four complaints that he made culturally insensitive or racist comments;
• Three claims that he was in a state of undress;
• Seven allegations of bullying;
• One allegation of unwanted touching.
Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place after 2018.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014
Ahead of the publication of the summary, Wallace had said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.
He also said his neurodiversity had “now formally (been) diagnosed as autism”, saying in the social media post that it was “suspected and discussed by colleagues across countless seasons of MasterChef”.
BBC held no ‘central’ information over Wallace concerns
Additionally, the report summary found there were 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. These were unrelated to Wallace, and those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures before 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
The investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, but it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace today.
Gregg Wallace after being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Princess Royal in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Picture date: Tuesday February 28, 2023.
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Picture by: Andrew Matthews/PA Archive/PA Images
Responding to the findings of the report, the BBC said the corporation had “no plans to work with [Wallace] in future”, saying his behaviour “falls below the values of the BBC”.
The BBC said “opportunities were missed” to address Wallace’s behaviour, adding, “We accept more could and should have been done sooner”.
Concerning the allegations against other individuals flagged in the report, the BBC said they had asked Banijay UK to take action to address these issues, and said it would “be completed as a priority”.
The corporation has yet to decide if the unseen MasterChef series that was filmed with Wallace last year will still be aired.
Production staff deserve ‘much, much better’
Banijay UK chief executive Patrick Holland called the report “uncomfortable reading”, but said its findings provided “valuable insight” for production teams moving forward.
In a nod to Wallace’s recent autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Mr Holland said Wallace’s neurodiversity was “relevant to certain behaviours identified in the report”, admitting “the production could have done more to identify, manage and communicate patterns of inappropriate behaviour”.
Philippa Childs, head of creative industries union Bectu, said the report findings made it clear that “inappropriate behaviour has gone unchecked for far too long,” adding: “This is a real failure by Banijay to take these issues seriously and act accordingly”.
Ms Childs said the report highlighted the precarious position of production staff, the majority of whom are freelance workers, who she said deserve “much, much better”.
Wallace was the original presenter of the BBC show Saturday Kitchen in 2002 and has also featured on Eat Well For Less?, Inside The Factory, Turn Back Time, Harvest and Supermarket Secrets.
He was best known, however, for presenting MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals, and Celebrity MasterChef.
Warning: This article contains details readers may find distressing.
An “evil” postman who moaned about being lonely hours before he severed his girlfriend’s head and tried to dismember her body has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years.
Ewan Methven murdered 21-year-old Phoenix Spencer-Horn in the flat they shared in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in November last year.
The High Court in Glasgow heard the killer dumped his partner’s body parts in their hallway and failed to call emergency services for two days.
Phoenix Spencer-Horn was murdered in November
The 27-year-old then bought drugs, watched pornography and sent sickening texts to Phoenix’s worried mum pretending she was still alive.
Phoenix was stabbed 20 times – including 10 times in the face – using three knives in an attack that unfolded after she returned from her waitressing job in Lanarkshire.
The 21-year-old had described Methven as her “soulmate” on social media, saying in one TikTok video: “Life is so much more beautiful and full of colour with you.”
A few months later she was murdered by the same man she had been in a relationship with for two years.
Ewan Methven was jailed on Monday. Pic: Police Scotland
Methven received a life sentence with at least 23 years behind bars when he retuned to the dock on Monday.
The judge, Lord Matthews, described it as a “dreadful crime”.
He told Methven: “You were a trusted member of her family, but you betrayed that trust and robbed her of life in the cruellest way.
“Not content with what you had done to her, you robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and trying to dismember her in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.”
The pair had been in a relationship for two years
Lord Matthews highlighted victim impact statements supplied by Phoenix’s family and said he had “rarely read such outpourings of grief”.
The judge said: “The way you treated this innocent young woman after her death meant that her family did not even have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.”
He added: “I have this morning seen a letter written by you, but it answers none of the questions which must be plaguing the family. You blame the effect of substances but that is no excuse.”
‘Personification of evil’
Sky News has interviewed the couple’s neighbour who lives directly next door.
Toni Brown, 25, described the horror of discovering what happened.
She said: “I think I stayed out of the house for about a week after that. I couldn’t even sit.
“It’s horrific. It gives me shivers thinking about it. It is crazy to think I stayed next door to a monster like that.
“What scares me the most is knowing she was lay there and I was in here oblivious.”
Neighbour Toni Brown spoke to Sky News
Asked whether she heard any noises or violence around the time of the murder, Ms Brown said: “There was a bad smell in my house in the early hours of the morning she was found.
“There was a bad smell in my kitchen basically where the walls join together.”
Methven’s own defence lawyer told the court that society will see the killer as the “personification of evil”.
When he eventually called 999, he claimed to have suffered a drug-induced blackout during the violent killing.
Ms Spencer-Horn was murdered by the man she once called her ‘soulmate’
Another life lost to gender-based violence
The case has raised questions once again about the growing prevalence of gender-based violence.
Fiona Drouet’s daughter Emily was 18 when she took her own life at university in Aberdeen in 2016, days after being choked and slapped by her ex-boyfriend.
Angus Milligan was later convicted of physical and psychological abuse.
Fiona Drouet’s daughter was a victim of physical abuse from an ex-boyfriend
Ms Drouet, who now campaigns on violence against women across the UK and Ireland, has set up a charity called Emily’s Test in her daughter’s name.
Reacting to the death of Ms Spencer-Horn, Ms Drouet told Sky News: “There is another mother and father that have just been plunged into utter hell.
“Somebody once said to me that if God came to you and said, ‘I am going to give you this beautiful daughter, but you’ll only have her for 18 years and then we need to take her back, would you still want her?’ and I would take those 18 years and go through the pain rather than have nothing.
“Although just now that probably offers no words of comfort for Phoenix’s parents, maybe one day it can.”
If you suspect you are being abused and need to speak to someone, there are people who can help you, including The National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or Women’s Aid online.
A military exercise bringing together more than 35,000 personnel across 19 different nations, including the UK, is under way in Australia – with Chinese spy ships expected to watch.
The drill – the largest-ever war fighting exercise to take place in Australia – officially started on Sunday with a ceremony in Sydney.
The biennial drill, known as Exercise Talisman Sabre, started in 2005 as a joint exercise between the US and Australia.
This year, personnel from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom have joined.
The Ministry of Defence said the UK Carrier Strike Group, including HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Richmond, would be training with forces from New Zealand, among others, ahead of the exercise.
The UK’s Carrier Strike Group taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre. Pic: X/@COMUKCSG
“F-35B jets and Merlin helicopters, part of a wider multinational force, are ready to defend and deepen ties across the Indo-Pacific under Operation Highmast,” said a post on the MoD’s X account.
This morning, the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) said on its own X account: “Exercise #TalismanSabre25 begins! UK #CSG25 is excited to join with 18 partner nations and over 35,000 military personnel for the largest iteration of the exercise in its history.”
An Australian Airforce F35 fighter jet participates in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. Pic: AP
The 19 countries will take part in the exercise over three weeks, Australia’s defence department said on Sunday, with China expected to monitor activities.
The drills will also take place in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, making it the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.
Chinese ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to carry out surveillance on the current exercise, Australian defence industry minister Pat Conroy said.
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Rockets are launched from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System during Talisman Sabre 2025. Pic: AP
“The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017. It’d be very unusual for them not to observe it,” Mr Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We’ll adjust accordingly. We’ll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” he added.
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Mr Conroy said the Chinese were not yet shadowing ships as of Sunday.
The drill started a day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China, where he is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.
HIMARS rockets are fired by Australian, US and Singapore defence forces. Pic: Reuters
Mr Albanese said Chinese surveillance of Talisman Sabre would not be an issue raised with Mr Xi.
“That would be nothing unusual. That has happened in the past and I’ll continue to assert Australia’s national interest, as I do,” Mr Albanese said in Shanghai on Monday.
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