What a waste of money!
After spending £2.6 million on a new briefing room, plans for televised White House-style press briefings at Downing Street have been abandoned.
Boris Johnson’s aide Allegra Stratton, who had been hired on an £100,000 salary to front the briefings, will become the spokeswoman for the COP26 climate summit instead.
Masterminded by former Downing Street comms director, Lee Cain, and inspired by the Trump administration’s punchy comms strategy, the televised briefings were intended to reduce the influence of journalists and give politicians the chance to address the public directly. A noble aspiration for sure, but, from the get go, the idea was met with scepticism.
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Televised briefings were important during the early stages of the pandemic, when it was crucial for ministers and experts to communicate why lockdown was necessary and the current state of public health. But with fewer updates to share, many No 10 insiders began to worry that these press briefings would become an opportunity for journalists to catch the Government out. And after unsuccessful rehearsals in January or February, many doubted whether Allegra Stratton was the right person to keep the “Gotcha!” moments at bay.
After months of kicking the start date down the road, №10 eventually put the press briefings out of their misery, sneaking the news of their cancellation into a day dominated by the European Super League. Despite this cancellation, ministers insist that the venue was not a waste of money, adding that the press facility would be used by future governments (assuming whichever party is in power is happy to be surrounded by Tory-blue panelling).
Trafalgar Strategy is a strategic communications consultancy that advises clients on reputation and media management, campaigns, public affairs and other complex communication challenges.
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