Who will the Murdoch empire back this election campaign?

It was The Sun what won it.

Or so Rupert Murdoch’s publication claimed in a headline when John Major won the 1992 general election.

What about when Tony Blair achieved a huge majority in the 1997 general election?

Yes, Blair was a charismatic leader who won the hearts of the electorate. But this was not without help.

Help from the backing of the media conglomerate who at one time had an undoubtable ability to sway public opinion.

The world is now a very different place, with social media dominating the public’s news consumption habits.

But some may argue the Murdoch empire, which includes publications from The Sun to The Times, is still an influential force.

So who will it back in the 2024 general election?

The Sunday Times has already come out and backed Starmer, but eyes remain on The Sun to see who it will throw its weight behind.

And according to The News Agents’ Jon Sopel, it will be the winner.

“My understanding of Murdoch is that he obviously wants to back a winner. He doesn’t want to put his empire at odds with whoever is going to be a new and powerful Prime Minister”, he says.

Sopel adds: “If you’ve got Keir Starmer about to swing to power with a colossal majority, then surely you want to make a friend of Starmer beforehand with an endorsement.

“Or at least very neutral coverage of him so that you don’t run into policy difficulties later on where Starmer thinks ‘I owe you absolutely nothing.’”

Sopel put this to David Yelland, who might know a thing or two given his former role as editor of The Sun.

Yelland replied: “Keir Starmer may be Prime Minister for 10 years and it is entirely possible that Rupert Murdoch will still be with us at the end of those 10 years. His mother lived till 100-plus.

“Yes, he won’t want to be on the wrong side. And I think The Sun will back Keir Starmer in the end because you may as well. You may as well be onside and appear to be onside.”

Labour also may as well embrace The Sun with open arms, Yelland added.

But it won’t be a real marriage, according to the paper’s former editor.

Rather, Yelland said it is more like they are the only two people left on the dancefloor on a saturday night.

What have we seen so far?

At every election he has covered over the years, Sopel says he has “seen the politicians cosy up to the newspaper editors and the newspaper owners to try and be in their good graces.”

That is “so that when an election is called the newspapers, if they don’t support them, will at least be neutral and not hostile”.

But this year, Sopel says the “papers have been a bit more muted than they had been in previous elections”.

He adds: “What we refer to in inverted commas as the right-wing press - The Express, The Mail, The Telegraph, The Sun - have not been full throated in getting behind Rishi.

“Is that a question of the successes of Labour’s campaign? Or is it the newspapers adjusting to reality where they can see that Labour are a million miles out in front, so why put yourself on the wrong side of history. Or is it that newspapers just don’t matter that much anymore.”

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