New Labour, New Danger was an advertising campaign run in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Party during the run up to the 1997 general election. It was conceived by creative director Martin Casson [1] at advertising agency M&C Saatchi, and refers to the Labour Party's "New Labour" slogan. [2]
The main poster used in the campaign involved a picture of Labour Party leader Tony Blair on a black background with a strip of the poster appearing to be torn off across the eyes of Blair. The eyes were replaced with a pair of "demon eyes" with the slogan "New Labour New Danger" positioned below the picture. [3]
A later poster used the "demon eyes" on a purse and accompanied it with the slogan "New Labour, New Taxes". [4]
The advert was praised by Campaign , who judged it had completed its objective of questioning Blair's character. The advertisement was claimed to have gained the Conservatives £5 million worth of free publicity. [5] Despite being declared 'the best advert of the year' it was widely condemned [ by whom? ] as counter productive. [6]
The advert was condemned by the Labour Party as negative advertising. [7] In September 1996, former Conservative prime minister Edward Heath also criticized the advert. [8] The Conservatives went on to experience their worst election defeat for more than half a century, with some journalists speculating that the poster contrasted unfavourably with Labour's more positive campaign. [9]
The Advertising Standards Authority received 150 complaints about the Blair advert, including one from the Bishop of Oxford. The ASA upheld the complaints and instructed the Conservatives to withdraw the poster, stating they believed it portrayed Blair as "dishonest and sinister" [4] and also because the campaign didn't have Blair's permission to use his image. [10] In 1999, the ASA decided to stop regulating political advertising, citing this advert as a particularly difficult case and saying: "The free flow of argument in the cut and thrust of open debate is the best antidote to political advertising that misleads or offends." [11] A poll by the poster site company Maiden Outdoor found 64% disliked the campaign. [12]
In August 2012, it was announced that the "demon eyes" design would be used in the American film The Campaign . [13]
The Labour Party's workers founded an amateur football team called Demon Eyes F.C. named after the adverts. The football team once won Thames League Division 1, before being disbanded. [14]
The 2001 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 June 2001, four years after the previous election on 1 May 1997, to elect 659 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party was re-elected to serve a second term in government with another landslide victory with a 167 majority, returning 412 members of Parliament versus 418 from the 1997 general election, a net loss of six seats, though with a significantly lower turnout than before—59.4%, compared to 71.6% at the previous election. The number of votes Labour received fell by nearly three million. Tony Blair went on to become the only Labour Prime Minister to serve two consecutive full terms in office. As Labour retained almost all of their seats won in the 1997 landslide victory, the media dubbed the 2001 election "the quiet landslide".
The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179-seat majority.
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Stephen Glenn Charles Hilton is a British political commentator, former political adviser, and contributor for Fox News Channel. He served as director of strategy for the British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2012. Hilton hosted The Next Revolution, a weekly current affairs show for Fox News from 2017 to 2023. He is a proponent of what he calls "positive populism" and a vocal supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump. He was a co-founder of Crowdpac, but stepped down as CEO in 2018 due to conflicting values with the company.
Spencer Elliot Livermore, Baron Livermore is a strategy and communications professional. He is currently the Shadow Treasury Spokesperson in the House of Lords. Previously, he worked in the European Banking Practice at the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Prior to that he was Director of Strategy at communications consultancy Teneo Blue Rubicon - where he built and had Board responsibility for their Strategic Consulting division, before which he was Senior Strategist at advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.
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