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PROFESSIONALISATION IN THE BRITISH ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT | 49

The Conservative and Labour Parties in the 1950s: the importance of organisation and the
use of experts and professionals
Passing comment on the Conservative Party in the 1950s, H. H. Wilson (1961) has
written that Lord Woolton ‘completely reorganised the Central Office and the Party
organisation, in the process also vastly increasing the power of the Central Office’
(Wilson, 1961, p. 93). He also made ‘professional advertising and public relations men …
key figures in the Central Office, rapidly improving techniques and strengthening
reliance on a manipulative approach to politics’ (Wilson, 1961, p. 94). For example,
Woolton appointed Toby O’Brien in 1946 as a public relations consultant to the party
and he was put ‘in charge of publicity’ (Woolton, 1959, p. 344). Although O’Brien’s role
seems to have been one of establishing good relations between the press and the
party (Pearson and Turner, 1965, pp. 227–9), he represents an early example of a
professional from outside the party – albeit someone who also wanted a political career
– hired to help the party position itself in the country. Other experts also played a part
in the 1950 and 1951 elections. As Lord Woolton explained:‘… we also used to the full
the latest devices of science – the radio and television.We had,many months before the
(1951) election, created a “school” for training speakers to use these new media for
propaganda – and they needed training’ (1959, p. 361). The trainers were, one must
presume,experts and professional in their areas.

Nevertheless, the role of such outside professionals in the elections of 1949, 1951 and
1955 was quite limited even though the advertising firm Colman,Prentis and Varley was
already involved in advertising campaigns. As Butler and Rose commented, advertisers
were not part ‘of a long-term programme of … image-building. When the
(Conservative) party was returned to power in October 1951 the advertising stopped;
the importance of long-term campaigning was not then recognised’(1960,pp.18–19).

By the next general election, in 1959, things had changed quite considerably with the
creation of an apparently better organisation and by more intensive use of advertisers.
This time the Party was guided by Lord (Oliver) Poole, its chairman since 1955. Lord
Windelsham’s analysis of the Conservative Party in this period illustrates both the
organisational advances made by the Conservatives but also the poor state of its main
rival,the Labour Party: Professionalisation in the British Electoral and Political Context

With a businessman’s belief in professionalism, not always found in political
organizations, he (Lord Poole) employed professional public relations men to
supervise publicity and Press relations. … It is worth noting that, with the
exception of television broadcasters, the Conservative Party made little use of
party members volunteering to lend their professional skills to the cause,
preferring to raise money to pay established companies whose continued
existence and reputation were a surer guide to competence (Windlesham, 1966,
p.51). 3 51