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electoral landscape in Britain as overseas. But it would be too simplistic to suggest that
election campaigns at the end of the twentieth century represented something that
was utterly different from what had gone before. Certainly, there were differences
between elections in the 1990s and ones earlier on in the twentieth century, but the
differences were perhaps less dramatic than at first appears. As Dominic Wring writes in
the conclusion to his analysis of political communication and party development,‘while
there have been major changes in the way campaigns are now conducted, there are
some significant continuities in practice and theorizing.’ (2001, p. 51). The task is not
only to identify some of the differences and continuities, but also to pay attention to
the subtleties and complexities of change.

This chapter will attempt to set the use of professionals in recent British elections in a
longer historical context and to use that discussion as background to a consideration of
the issues and questions raised in Chapter 2 and identified above in respect of change and
continuities. In the course of this discussion, three related themes will emerge and these
remind us of certain continuities in the lives of political parties, continuities that derive
from their desire to gain power on the back of a continually changing socio-political and
communications environment.The three themes can be summarised as follows:

n a constant desire amongst political party leaders to restructure and centralise the
organisation of their parties in order to improve their electoral strength. Wring
identifies ‘a managerialist conception of electioneering’ (2001, p. 39) with British
elections in the 1950s though it would probably be possible to argue that the desire
to manage and control parties and their interface with the electorate goes back
much further;
n as different technologies come to the fore, political parties seek to familiarise
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
themselves with them and to exercise some means of control over how they are
used for political communication. This practice would apply to the press, radio and
film just as much as it applies to the medium of television and the internet;
n over the last century or so, there has also been a growing tendency to employ, or
seek help or advice from, those who are skilled in the many aspects of
communicating to the public, be they public relations agents, polling agencies or
advertisers. Indeed, the more ‘mediated’ the political (election) process, the more
likely that such ‘outsiders’ will be employed in order to provide expertise across a
wider range of areas (see Chapter 2, above, and also Kelley, 1956). Critically, the
position of such advisers within a political party and within the political process is
rarely uniform. As Martin Harrop has argued, the professionals who inhabit political
communication processes and structures occupy ‘a role that is more subtle and
varied than commonly assumed’(2001,p.68).

Although these themes emerge frequently, this chapter will also aim to address the
question of whether the professionals – whoever they may be – have come to displace
more traditional party bureaucrats/ employees.
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