Wilson The Eye of the Storm

The View from the Centre of a Political Scandal
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84954-776-5
Verlag: Biteback Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 336 Seiten

MPs' expenses in 2009. Phone hacking in 2011. 'Plebgate' in 2012. If a good speech or a ground-breaking new policy fails to get people talking, you can be sure a juicy scandal will do the trick. Our instantaneous news culture of social networks, blogs and Twitter feeds means politicians now, more than ever, can find themselves the focus of every journalist in the country in what seems like the blink of an eye. But behind this hostile media landscape, behind the storm of camera flashes and the clamour of opponents on all sides baying for blood, are the politicians themselves. With the benefit of personal interviews and access to senior officials including Vince Cable, Andrew Mitchell and Jeremy Hunt, Rob Wilson MP details what it's really like to be at the heart of a relentless media onslaught. Describing both the emotional upheaval and the strategies employed as politicians try to navigate through careers seemingly hanging by a thread, Wilson reveals the extraordinary political and personal stories behind the public drama; the real impact on those who live in the eye of the storm.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wilson, Rob

Leseproben

INTRODUCTION
“When you’re not in that firestorm you just can’t appreciate how stressful it is.” – Conservative MP ‘Parliament’s darkest day’ blazed the headline on the front page of The Times on 15 April 2009. The scandal over MPs’ and peers’ expenses was raging at its fiercest, with fresh outrages by apparently greedy and grasping MPs being revealed on a daily basis on the front pages of the newspapers. It was, as the current Speaker of the House of Commons would later describe it, a case of ‘reputational carnage’ affecting the entire political class. For once, the goings-on of MPs in Parliament were at the front and centre of public consciousness and conversations. The British public appeared united in its disgust and outrage that whilst they suffered amidst the fallout of the financial crisis of 2008 and the worst recession in living memory, their so-called political representatives had been caught helping themselves to second homes, expensive televisions and even duck houses, moats and pornographic films from the public purse. The impact of the scandal has seared itself into public memory; some four years later, a poll found that politicians were trusted less than journalists, estate agents, and even bankers. Few, if any, MPs or candidates could escape the fallout from the expenses scandal. But the politicians whose cases were at the very centre of the scandal suddenly found their reputations and careers in ruins. For those charged on the front pages of the newspapers, there seemed to be no way of getting a fair hearing against the wave of public anger, hostility and cynicism, even when they had a reasonable explanation. And it wasn’t just their professional lives that were affected; it was their privacy and their families’ lives too. What had started as a scoop by one newspaper had turned into a runaway triumph for many, emboldening the entire media and turning its appetite for political scandal, and particularly anything expenses-related, into a frenzy. Journalists were looking into seemingly all aspects of MPs’ lives. Even the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner complained that he had Daily Mail photographers outside his house and felt under pressure. Whilst numerous MPs threw in the towel, a few buckled completely under the strain, with at least one suffering a mental collapse at the prospect of jail time and another attempting suicide. The 2009 expenses scandal was, of course, not the beginning of political scandal and not the first political crisis in Britain. But nor has it marked the end of it. Despite a huge clear-out of MPs at the 2010 general election, their replacement with a younger generation, and solemn promises by the main party leaders to clean up politics, in the few years since the expenses scandal five senior members of the Cabinet have been forced to resign as a result of scandals, with one even going to jail. The political class as a whole was once again brought into disrepute when the close links between leading politicians and media barons were revealed during the scandal over phone hacking and similar unscrupulous behaviour by members of the press. And the usual stream of stories about MPs’ personal conduct and their private lives has continued, with political blogs and social media now providing another, less-controlled space in which rumours can gather momentum and the fires of potential scandals be fuelled. QUESTIONS
In an age where public cynicism towards politicians in Britain now appears to be firmly entrenched, it would seem that any politician could find him or herself in the line of fire, almost at any time. And when a politician finds themselves on the front pages and towards the top of broadcast bulletins – in the eye of the storm, so to speak – they would appear to have the odds stacked against their political survival. The person at the centre of the storm would be forgiven for assuming that the public, if not their colleagues and the ‘Westminster village’, would presume them guilty until proven innocent. When journalists start picking up another’s ‘scoop’ and following it up, the odour of bad publicity starts to spread and it suggests that those ‘in the know’ believe there is more to come. If the media ‘pack’ starts to scent blood – and that an admission of guilt, a resignation or sacking may be in the offing – all hell can break loose for the politician at the centre of it. Looking back at individual scandals or crises alongside each other prompts us to ask some interesting questions: just how do those politicians in the eye of the storm attempt to overcome the odds and emerge with their political careers and reputations intact? What strategies are used? Why do some succeed and some fail? And although most people in Britain would agree that vigorous press scrutiny of politicians is a good thing, what lessons could be learned and what mistakes should be avoided in the heat of the moment to stop otherwise worthwhile political careers being needlessly cut short? Given that there are so many scandals of varying degrees of seriousness in politics, is there a ‘standard operating manual’ or reserve of expertise on hand to support politicians in trouble, or do they find themselves isolated, forced to reinvent the wheel alone as the clamour grows for their downfall? THE HUMAN SIDE OF POLITICAL SCANDALS
Alongside the strategic and tactical considerations, it must be remembered that periods of crisis and scandal form some of the most intense periods of political careers, and indeed the lives, of those at the centre of them. Whilst the attention of the media and the public often swiftly moves on, regardless of the outcome, the personal impacts can last for years. Indeed, the experience is often life-changing. It is at these times that the strongest friendships may be formed, consolidated or broken. Invariably, spouses, parents, children, neighbours and friends find themselves dragged in. Crises and scandals make for exciting and compelling stories with moments of high drama. But their impact on real, human lives can be devastating, and sometimes harrowing to recount, even years later. This book is an attempt to tell the human story of what it was like, and to give readers a sense of what it is like, to be the person at the centre of a political scandal or crisis. It goes behind the face in the photograph and the name in the headlines. It tries to convey how things looked through the eyes of the person looking back at the bank of photographers and journalists outside their house, and into the eyes of colleagues, staff, frightened spouses and children. Likeable or loathsome as readers may find the book’s subjects, it reveals the inside story of what really goes on when political careers are, to all appearances, hanging by a thread. The book is based upon a series of interviews with people in politics who, in recent years, have found themselves at the centre of a political storm. The focus is predominantly on the years since the 2010 general election and the formation of the coalition government, and the book covers many of the most significant scandals to have hit Cabinet ministers over the course of the coalition since its formation. But with the issue of expenses still looming so heavily over British politics (expenses still remains to this day a ‘third rail’ issue for political careers, as will be discussed later), the book also recollects on one of the most prominent cases of the MPs’ expenses scandal in 2009. For a broader perspective, the book will also look back on a scandal that emerged from the Blair– Brown in-fighting in the 2000s and the experiences of one Conservative Leader of the Opposition whose tenure seemed, from the outside, to be in a permanent state of crisis. Each chapter tells the story from the perspective of the person at the centre of the storm. Although I have sought to paint a fair and accurate picture of what happened in each case, the chapters do not attempt to provide a completely objective assessment of the various scandals or to take accounts from everyone involved. At times of scandal and crisis in politics, the people at the centre often fail to get a fair hearing. When they do publish a full account from their viewpoint, it is often too late and the public and their peers have already made up their minds. By describing the events from beginning to end from the perspective of the person accused, this book seeks to redress the balance. The presentation of each case may not be entirely neutral, but I hope readers will find that I have not been completely uncritical. I am not defending politicians as a ‘class’, nor did I set out to defend any of the subjects of the book. I have not tried to make a judgement on the rights and wrongs. With the opportunity to look back on events that often gathered momentum very quickly and amidst excited reporting and speculation, readers may wish to make their own reappraisal. As will be clear by now, this book is not meant to be a definitive history of the scandals and crises of recent years in British politics. Nonetheless, I hope it will give a sense of the dynamics of political crises. It may inform thinking about how crises can be better handled: how political parties can support their own at times of trouble and how those in trouble can better help themselves, or at least avoid making unnecessary mistakes. What follows may also inform the ongoing debate about the activities of the press, and the relationship between the press and politicians. Above all, my aim for this book is to...