What are the key messages that the main parties are hoping will unlock the door to No10

The 2024 UK election had the potential to be the most acrimonious and bad tempered this side of the referendum. However, the snap decision by Rishi Sunak to hold the election in July has forced all the parties to accelerate their strategies and dive straight into campaigning, with a focus on policy over pontification.

That accelerated time frame has also made it immediately clear to see the communications platforms that the main parties, and those on the fringes, are choosing to pursue to woo UK voters.

Without the long run into an autumn election, the main parties are having to repeatedly beat the drum around a much simpler set of messages, in the hope that they land effectively.

And as any media training and communications professional will tell you, repetition and simplicity are the key to getting through to audiences.

So, just in case you were still in any doubt, these are the main platforms that each of the main parties are pushing:

Conservative: Security

In our most recent elections, the Conservatives have been more successful in landing their messages, precisely because they kept it simple and well-coordinated. This year, while seemingly launching a new policy every day, the underlying theme is very clearly security.

From focusing on the ‘risk’ of a labour government, to highlighting ongoing global uncertainty, the current government has announced policies surrounding defence, national service and now ‘triple lock plus’ pensions providing, “peace of mind and security in retirement”.

What they are trying to sell is the idea that now is not the time for change. It’s a push towards the Conservative heartland and older voters, but whether it will be enough to convince them is another matter.

Labour: Stability

Despite the sudden announcement of the election, Labour demonstrated that they were well prepared with their campaign oven ready, to borrow a phrase. And while ‘Change’ is the word emblazoned across their photo ops, it’s stability that is the underlying message coming from their comms. There is a two-pronged approach behind this strategy. One is to capitalise on the instability in Government, from scandals and changes in leadership to certain high profile policy failings and retiring MPs. The second is to address historic criticism of Labour and its past leaders and performance.

So, what you’re seeing from them is that they are ‘ready to govern’ and the drive for economic stability and a stable government. The polls have them way ahead and after the chaos of the last parliament, it would seem that there is a strong desire for a return to boring, predictable politics from many different quarters, including the business community.

Liberal Democrats: Change (Local / domestic issues)

While the Lib Dems main campaign is focused on gaining a ‘fair deal’, the main thrust of their communications is all about ‘change’. But this doesn’t really tell the whole story, as sitting under all of this is a focus on local and domestic policies, rather than the bigger picture issues such as the economy, immigration or global politics. Leader, Ed Davey, said at the launch of their campaign that there was “no ceiling on ambition”, but this is also not quite true.

The Lib Dem campaign is a highly tactical campaign aimed at breaking the “blue wall” and the “blue coast”, by focusing on local issues such as water quality, NHS and schools. It’s not an election campaign aimed at forming a government, but at taking as many seats from the Conservatives as possible.

Will it be successful, who knows? But at the moment it is suffering from the aforementioned lack of simplicity and the repetition required to land at a national level and is potentially also being undermined by constant stunty photo ops.

What about the rest?

There are a wide range of other potential parties to vote for and while many profess to have full manifestos, they can broadly be described as single-issue parties when it comes to their election platforms.

SNP: Unity (Independence)

The SNP with 43 MPs is naturally pushing for independence but under the banner of Scottish unity.

The Green Party: well – green (Local)

With one sitting MP, the Green Party are echoing the Lib Dems with very much a tactical and local focus on insulating homes, improving hospitals and cleaning up rivers.

Reform: Immigration

Despite a lot of noise, a raft of policies and a pledge to field a candidate in every constituency, when your Honorary President heads to Dover to announce the “Immigration election”, which manages to overshadow your actual launch, it’s fairly clear what your platform is.

In only five short weeks, the election itself will tell us whose communications and messaging has been successful, and this will only be a small part of the bigger picture. However, it’s clear to see that some comms lessons learned in the past are being listened to, and some of the same old mistakes are still being made.