Working with the media to influence the UK Budget 2024

Chancellor Rachel Reeves holds a press conference on Fixing the Foundations of the UK economy at HM Treasury. Picture by Zara Farrar / No 10 Downing Street. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmtreasury/53889800803/

Imagine you wanted to influence one of the most powerful politicians in the country, but you knew certain elements of the media, would overreact? What would you do?

We recently landed a string of stories for a client, the think tank, IPPR North on a report about wealth inequality.

The report included the finding that wealth inequality in the UK is now one of the most significant barriers to rebalancing the UK economy. A staggering finding really.

It listed a number of tricky recommendations for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves to consider on tax, the sort of ideas guaranteed to send a chill down the spine of politicians and provoke howls of anguish in parts of the media.

For any organisation that cares about its credibility this is a tricky communications challenge.

PR Objectives

Our aim working with the economists at IPPR was at least threefold:

1. To fuel the national conversation about how wealth inequality is growing;

2. To raise awareness of the taxes that could be tweaked so we can better fund public services and start closing the regional wealth inequality gap; and

3. To do so in a way that was loud and impactful, yet credible, constructive and - importantly - regionally focussed.

Now there is a sizeable section of the press for whom tax rises will never be palatable. Predictably the report's recommendations were met with anger in certain parts of the media and some of it definitely stepped over the mark. This is par for the course and reflects the febrile nature of political communications in the Westminster bubble, never more so than when tax is up for discussion.

How to frame tax rises: avoid "punitive" messaging

Tax is often framed in a punitive way with taxpayers or households depicted as either winners or losers when taxes change. This can sometimes be helpful, and often informative, but it can also trigger people to think only about the negative aspects of tax.

Yet there is an audience that's open to an alternative story. For example, in polls and focus groups we've been involved in, it's common to find that Brits oppose tax cuts, especially if they come at the expense of public services.

In addition, there's evidence to show that the public is open to a wider debate about tax rises, for example:

• Most people agree that taxes on the rich are too low (63%). Whilst only 5% think taxes are too high (Yougov, 2024).

• A poll by Tax Justice UK found that most (64%) people in the UK were more likely to vote for a political party at an election if it was committed to higher taxes on the wealthiest to invest in the NHS and public service (Tax Justice UK, 2024).

• Even the wealthy support higher taxes on wealth, as the campaign group Patriotic Millionaires have found; and

• The public don't want tax cuts if they are at the expense of public services as this research we helped to publicise, found.

But when it comes to certain elements of the media, it's a thankless task to hope that they will take a positive line on tax.

PR is sometimes like Judo

After years of working on political communications we've come to the conclusion that it's far better to acknowledge that tax is a totemic issue for the right. The right wing, anti-tax media is loud and bold, going nowhere and not a constituency any credible government or think tank can ignore. Far better to use their obsession with tax to our advantage.

Because sometimes dealing with a hostile media is a bit like Judo. Judo's philosophy revolves around two primary principles: "Seiryoku-Zenyo" ( good use of energy) and "Jita-Kyoei" (mutual welfare and benefit). By analogy, it can be effective to redirect the energy inherent in the onslaughts of the media towards something more useful, in this case "cut through" or higher salience of tax as an issue.

There can even be sound tactical reasons to deliberately whip up a storm among certain elements of the press; get them riled and frothy on purpose, all the better to ensure that an issue like the taxation of extreme wealth builds in the public imagination and gains ever more salience in the national conversation.

That said, much of the right wing media's obsession with tax, is froth: "Tomorrow's fish n chip paper" as we used to say!

Reaching "over the heads" of the Westminster lobby

That said, whilst "cut through" and issue salience are good, they are not enough. We also wanted to get some credible and sensible messaging out there about the report. And to do that we knew we had to "reach over the heads" of the national political media lobby. So we were really happy when we landed a comment piece and, not just one, but two front page stories on the front page of the Yorkshire Post, the newspaper that serves the constituents of the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

Regional media are too often overlooked by comms people these days, which is a shame, because local radio, TV and newspapers are still relatively trusted by the public. And MPs - regardless of how lauded or powerful - really do care what their local media is reporting about them to their voters. In any case, outlets like the Yorkshire Post are not really provincial papers anymore and the big regionals (both print and broadcast) still retain staff offices in Westminster.

In the event our work saw stories about the report travel far and wide and we were able to clock up 101 media hits for a key piece of research that could yet have a significant influence on October's Budget. It's just one example of how Campaign Salience's strategic creativity, credibility and the credibility of our clients - combined with a uniquely well-connected media contacts book! - can help kick off conversations about the issues that matter.