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Zurich, 28.04.2010. The power of TV is apparent in the UK election campaign with Gordon Brown´s gaffe sinking his perceived chances of keeping office. Yet more significantly, is the way in which the television debates have boosted Clegg and led to him being portrayed in a very similar way to media favorite Cameron in the last week of the campaign. The conservative leader is widely tipped to lead in voting, but a hung parliament is perceived as the most likely result.

Gordon Brown´s visit to a life-long Labour supporter in the suburbs last week turned into a media disaster – to use Brown´s own words. It also meant that the media have more or less written off Brown´s campaign. At the same time, the dark horse, Nick Clegg, was brought back to earth by media scrutiny of his leadership capabilities. That has not prevented him from managing an almost identical media image in terms of topic profile, absolute statement level, and tonality as the Tory leader Cameron. “The last three weeks of the UK election campaign has been a prime example of how TV can make or break leaders”, says Media Tenor CEO and founder Roland Schatz. “Brown´s recovery is stopped by his calling a supporter who questioned him on immigration a ‘bigot´ – and Clegg used his place on the podium to come from nowhere and be considered a serious player”.

Despite the similarities, essential differences exist in the way Clegg and Cameron are portrayed. Most important is the consistency of Cameron´s campaign image. Whereas Clegg suffered from the lack of volume prior to his arrival on the scene Cameron´s media image shows a long term volume and rating stability. As Schatz points out, “Clegg´s absence before the TV debates meant that he is missing that essential long term presence – and that is essential for reputation. This shows the example of the U.S. How might the election have turned out, if the media had devoted sufficient air time Ralph Nader?”

In terms of who will win the election the media is showing a clear overall favoritism towards Cameron´s polling results. Previous Media Tenor analyses of elections have shown that reporting that a candidate or party will win an election is often a good support for that party in last minute swing areas. In this respect, both the Liberals and the Conservatives have a clear lead over Labour. However, the UK election is proving special due to reporting on the possibility of a hung Parliament. “The media is reporting that the Tories will govern – but they are not quite sure how” says Schatz, “and so this hung Parliament scenario may throw doubt into the minds of undecided voters – it will be interesting to see how this will play out on election day as it is somewhat of an unknown in British politics.”

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