Are we set for an ugly General Election campaign?

In Brief...

• The UK general election campaign is showing signs of becoming more hostile, with insults and name-calling, reminiscent of US election tactics.
• Keir Starmer was dubbed “Sir Sleepy” by a Conservative source, but the nickname failed to gain traction, contrasting with American-style attacks like “Sleepy Joe”.
• Despite these tactics, both major parties emphasise policy substance over personal attacks, but there's potential for further escalation as the election approaches.

The changing nature of election campaigns

We’re used to seeing insults and cruel nicknames thrown around in US election campaigns.

Donald Trump's 2016 election attacks on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, including "crooked Hillary" and "nasty woman", became memorable parts of the campaign trail.

Fast forward four years and a debate between Trump and Joe Biden in 2020 descended into insults from both sides… “He’s a liar”, “he’s a fool”, “clown”... Biden eventually asked Trump; “will you shut up, man?”.

That may be the American way, but it’s not usually how the British do things.

Jabs and jibes are often thrown around in the Commons, attacks on pledges and broken promises aren’t unusual. We’re even getting more used to seeing memes and Tik-Tok videos, sometimes witty, sometimes embarrassing, thrown out on official accounts as parties poke fun at their opponents.

But. British politicians, generally, don’t engage in playground name-calling.

However, this time round, are things starting to get ugly on the UK election trail?

Days after Rishi Sunak called the general election for July 4th, a piece in the Daily Mail saw Keir Starmer dubbed “sir sleepy” by an anonymous Conservative source, who said the 61-year-old might be too “weary” for the campaign trail.

The Labour leader responded to the insult, but avoided getting into a name-calling match, simply telling the Telegraph; “you’ve seen the energy that not only I, but also the whole team, are putting into this election”.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “pretty disgusted” at some of the Conservatives’ campaign tactics.

And, to be fair, Rishi Sunak, 44, distanced himself from the description, saying “substance is what matters at this election.”

The anonymous source presumably hoped that the nickname, lifted directly from the insult opponents of Joe Biden have used for years to criticise the 81-year-old US president, would take off “sleepy Joe” style.

However, “sir sleepy” received little to no traction, and certainly didn’t have the impact that “crooked Hillary” or “sleepy Joe” did.

And it’s no wonder the jibe didn’t land with the public. At 61-years-old Keir Starmer is hardly 81-year-old Biden or even 77-year-old Trump.

In fact, a poll by The News Agents’ resident pollster More In Common found that only 17% of UK voters believed Keir Starmer was too old to run the country.

Did “sir sleepy” not land simply because no one agrees with the insult? Or, did it not land because the British, while partial to a Cilla Black TikTok or seeing Jon Richardson in a bubble bath on political parties' social media accounts, don’t respond to this style of fight?

There are still weeks left before everyone heads to the polls on July 4th, and plenty of time for things to get ugly again, so we’re sure to find out.

The News Agents take on it

Lord Maurice Saatchi, former Tory Chairman and co-founder of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, spoke to The News Agents to give his take on whether the election campaign has been ugly, arguing that actually, it should be uglier...

“You must regard your job as leader to destroy your opponent and their position. And that has to be done in a totally brutal manner," He said.

You can watch a clip from his interview below.

Lewis Goodall agreed that the election campaign hasn't been as ugly as he was expecting.

"We spent quite a bit of this last 12 months and the run up to this election assuming that this would be a really dirty campaign and it hasn't been...

We’re just at the two weeks to go point, it could be that when they've got nothing else left, CCHQ decides to really go negative in the last two weeks. That could happen. Labour haven't got much incentive to do it. Why do it? Because they're already so far ahead. But it could be that there is something just waiting to come out or they've got some campaign videos waiting to go out, which go hard on Starmer in the last fortnight.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents podcast now.