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Communicator of the Year
WINNER
David Cameron
Leader, The Conservative Party
'Some in the media still criticise Conservative leader David Cameron for having "style over substance", but at least he's got some style,' confided one of the judges of this year's PRWeek Awards.
But there is growing evidence that the former Carlton Communications PROs' strategy does possess real substance.
Before Cameron took over leadership of the Conservative Party, in December 2005, the Tories were bumbling along at just over 30 per cent in the opinion polls. Nearly a year on, at the time of writing, his party is hitting the 40 per cent mark for the first time in a generation and nudging ahead of New Labour.
Cameron has certainly been criticised for emulating Tony Blair's style, and there are undoubtedly similarities. Despite their public school backgrounds, both possess the common touch; both are at home in the media spotlight and not averse to the odd photocall; and both have a penchant for focus groups. Both leaders have taken significant steps to change the visible branding of their parties. In Cameron's case, the old Tory torch recently made way for the oak tree as the party's emblem.
Like Blair before him, Cameron has also trawled the globe for best practice in communications, learning from European and US politicians alike. He has surrounded himself with a coterie of experienced communicators, most notably former adman Steve Hilton, founder of Good Business and now the Opposition leader's most trusted media minder.
But Cameron has gone one stage further than Blair. He has made his party credible on two of the issues of fastest growing importance among voters: climate change and corporate responsibility.
Perhaps most intriguingly for those in the PR industry, he has enthusiastically embraced new-media techniques, which continue to baffle many clients and agencies.
Cameron's launch of the Webcameron project on the eve of the Party Conference earlier this month - a video weblog in which he proffers his view from settings including his kitchen - spoke volumes about his new approach. Not only did it grab the headlines, leaving the impression of a politician with one foot in the future, it suggested a landmark change in political comms.
By embracing new technology such as blogs, Cameron has made a bold attempt to engage young people turned off by the adversarial nature of politics and the press. It could pave the way for political debate that is interactive instead of didactic, and conducted in a tone that is informal rather than aloof.
Whereas Blair will be inextricably linked with the 'age of spin', the new techniques embraced by Cameron could create a new era of transparency - of cutting through the media circus in favour of direct dialogue with the public.
