Does a newspaper endorsement matter?
32% of my followers are undecided on who to vote for and it seems the press is struggling to pick a favourite as well.
A national newspaper gave a ringing endorsement to a general election candidate this week.
It wasn’t The Sun pledging allegiance to Sir Keir Starmer, but the Daily Star backing space overlord Count Binface.
The intergalactic warrior, whose manifesto includes a price cap on croissants and forcing water firm bosses to take a dip in polluted rivers, makes this a very British election. While of course he’s not a serious prospect, certain items on his manifesto do have ties to very real issues that trouble the electorate. The cost of food, sewage discharge into rivers and our coastline, and national service for young people (Binface wants national service for all prime ministers).
If nothing else, it at least gets people talking. And you have to love the fact that a man with a bin on his head can stand alongside the prime minister of the day when the results are announced.
It’s unsurprising that the Star has gone for the fun endorsement - this is the paper that brought us the Liz Truss lettuce stunt. But it has got me thinking about how the press has covered this snap election so far.
In a poll on my Instagram stories this week, 32% of people (as of last night) told me they are undecided on who to vote for.
Will newspaper coverage influence their ultimate decision?
Usually people vote a particular way not because a newspaper convinced them to do so. They read a particular newspaper because it supports the way they like to vote.
But the lines are blurring in this election. It’s a chicken or egg question as to who abandoned Rishi Sunak first, the public - fed up after the lockdown parties, lucrative PPE contracts for mates and the Liz Truss mini-budget debacle - or right-leaning cheerleaders in the media. But the traditional Conservative press are certainly not coming out in full-throated support of Sunak - aside from an overly optimistic Telegraph column from the end of May that looks rather silly given the polls today.
The return of Nigel Farage to Reform UK and the Conservatives’ stagnant performance in polls means the right wing press are themselves undecided.
And while Labour is winning in the polls, for some this is a “not Conservative” vote rather than an enthusiastic “yes Keir Starmer” vote.
For the Mirror this is an easy one. It’s a Labour paper through and through, and has backed Starmer from the start.
The coverage from the Telegraph and Mail has largely been fear-based. They’re particularly focused on the plans from Labour to add VAT to private school fees (this will happen almost immediately if they win) and what taxes Labour could raise additional funds from.
They’re trying to win by arguing the other guy is going to cost their readers more money, not by arguing their guy is the best one for the job.
In fairness, Starmer isn’t being particularly clear on taxes. That’s partly because he can’t tell us precisely what budgets will look like over the coming years, but also because keeping his cards close to his chest has served him well these last four years. Why drop the ball now when keeping things as vague as possible has worked to his advantage while the Conservatives tear themselves apart post-Brexit?
Then you’ve got The Sun, which could turn around in the final weeks of the general election race and declare its support for Starmer. I would say it’s quite likely, as they will want to back the winner, same as they did in 1997 for Tony Blair.
But they’ll not do so with enthusiasm. The Sun’s readership, like the Telegraph and Mail, care a lot about the small boats. And Starmer’s offering on this point is to do what the Conservatives have been doing but better (setting up a new task force to smash the smuggling gangs).
And ultimately will a Sun endorsement matter to Starmer and Labour? I doubt they’ll say no, but it doesn’t put the wind in the sails like it once did.
Newspaper readership is way down, with just 13% of Brits getting their news from national print titles, according to YouGov data. There’s not the same power to influence public opinion with what’s on the front page as there once was.
When it comes to young people, over 50% are getting their news from social media and most Brits of all ages get their news from the TV.
However newspapers still play an important role in the news cycle, with the press influencing the agenda for broadcast coverage and individual journalists able to speak directly to voters on social media.
So a newspaper endorsement is not insignificant, as it can trickle down to even those voters who never pick up a paper.
There are still two weeks left to go before Britain heads to the polls.
We’ve now seen the manifestos for the parties and their key promises. What comes next over the final two weeks of this campaign is likely to be more project fear headlines from the Conservatives, and more question-dodging by Starmer.
But will we see some surprise endorsements? Or some begrudging ones? And will any of that help people who are genuinely undecided?
I would be really interested to hear from you as to what could possibly help you make up your mind at this stage of the game?
The News List is your weekly look at what’s behind the headlines of the week. This is a reader-supported publication and, if you can, upgrading to a paid subscription helps to support my work on here and Instagram.
In the news this week
Sir Keir Starmer has once again swerved a question on whether he would have served under Jeremy Corbyn if the then-Labour leader had won the election in 2019 or 2017. He called the question during an LBC phone-in “hypothetical” and said “I didn’t think we’d win either of those”. This issue keeps coming up because Starmer has now positioned himself as more centre-left politically, whereas Corbyn was further left on the political spectrum. This position did not play out particularly well with voters at the elections where Corbyn was leader. And earlier this month Starmer accused Sunak of having a “Jeremy Corbyn-style” manifesto as a criticism that there was no way to pay for the promises the Conservatives are making. During the 2019 general election Starmer praised the manifesto.
Starmer told LBC listeners that single-sex spaces in hospital should be maintained and “side rooms” can be used to accommodate transgender people.
The Telegraph questioned “why Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria is being kept off the campaign trail” in an article last week. Starmer revealed this week she is continuing with her job working for the NHS and supporting one of their children’s studies as they sit GCSE exams.
Rishi Sunak pledged further tax cuts after it was announced inflation has dropped to 2%, during an appearance on LBC on Wednesday morning.
Sunak pledged to serve for a full parliament, even if the Tories lose the election and he is no longer prime minister.
A record 882 migrants were detected crossing the English Channel on Tuesday, the highest number in a single day so far this year. The latest crossings bring the total number of arrivals for June to 1,865 people, with 12,313 making the crossing so far this year. The total so far for 2024 is higher than at the same point in 2022 and 2023. It’s worth watch this report from Sky News in which Ed Conway explains how net migration has hit its highest peak since 1855. He explains how the figures for total immigration show legal migration dwarfs the small boats arrivals.
A Question Time leaders’ special event will take place on Thursday night at 8pm on BBC One. Taking part are Rishi Sunak, for the Conservative Party, Sir Keir Starmer, for the Labour Party, John Swinney, for the Scottish National Party, and Sir Ed Davey, for the Liberal Democrats.
The jury in the trial of the aristocrat Constance Marten and her boyfriend, Mark Gordon, over the death of their newborn baby has been discharged after failing to reach verdicts. The couple were charged after their daughter, Victoria, was found dead on an allotment in Brighton, East Sussex, last March. Marten and Gordon were each charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, causing or allowing the death of a child, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and perverting the course of justice. The two denied all counts and went on trial at the Old Bailey in January. Jurors have been discharged after more than 72 hours of deliberation. The CPS will decide whether to pursue a retrial.
King Charles and Queen Camilla joined racegoers for the first day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday. Prince William joined the Queen for the carriage procession on the second day, with the King expected to only attend a few days this week due to his ongoing cancer treatment.
Photos of the Princess of Wales smiling alongside King Charles on the Buckingham Palace balcony were a welcome sight this week. Catherine released a deeply personal statement last Friday stating she is having good and bad days during her cancer treatment and she is “not out of the woods”. However she did feel well enough to attend Trooping the Colour alongside her three children, supporting the Irish Guards, of which she is honorary colonel, as well as the King and Prince William.
Joey Barton has apologised to Jeremy Vine and agreed to pay him £75,000 in damages for making defamatory comments on X (formerly known as Twitter). Mr Barton said in a statement on Tuesday that he apologised “for the distress" suffered by Mr Vine, who sued him for libel and harassment over 14 online posts. In the statement shared on X, Mr Barton wrote: “Between 8 and 12 January 2024 I published 11 posts which accused Jeremy Vine of having a sexual interest in children, and created a hashtag which made the same allegations, which were viewed millions of times. I recognise that this is a very serious allegation. It is untrue. I do not believe that Mr Vine has a sexual interest in children, and I wish to set the record straight.”
Two Just Stop Oil protesters have sprayed the historic Stonehenge monument with orange paint, a day before Summer Solstice when thousands are expected to visit the site.
A baby cow that was filmed being run over by police had gone on a rampage, ramming a police car and charging at and threatening people, the police watchdog has said. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has said Surrey Police’s professional standards department should investigate whether the way officers dealt with the cow was appropriate.
What I’m Watching
Defending Jacob (Apple TV). A couple’s happy life is smashed to pieces when their teenage son Jacob is accused of murdering a classmate. As they struggle with the impact on their lives and careers, the couple also wrestle with the question “is he really innocent?”. Desperate to see him exonerated, both face moral dilemmas over whether they are complicit by ignoring red flags in Jacob’s behaviour. It’s got a few twists and turns that make it really compelling, and I binged it all in a few days. The cast includes Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery as Jacob’s parents.