Prime Ministers and the Media

This book looks at the ways in which prime ministers manage and fail to manage their public communication. A timely examination of the ways in which prime ministers manage and fail to manage their public communication. Original in scope, covering political rumours, political cartoons and capital cities, in addition to more familiar topics. Sets contemporary analysis of Downing Street press secretaries, media barons and press conferences in fuller historical context than usual. Draws on public records, private papers and interviews by the author dating back to the 1960s.

"This is a fascinating, authoritative and eminently readable history of the changing relationship between prime ministers and the media. As one of the country’s leading historians of politics and the press, Colin Seymour-Ure offers some highly original insights in a book which should be required reading for anyone with an interest in politics or political communication." Steven Barnett, University of Westminster "Nevertheless, the book is clearly written enough to make it a good eaching tool and it contains enough insights (and historical nuggets) to satisfy an academic audience too." Political Studies Review

Colin Seymour-Ure has been researching and writing about political communication and mass media since the 1960s. He is Emeritus Professor of Government and former Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Kent, Canterbury. His publications include The British Press and Broadcasting since 1945 (Blackwell Publishing, second edition 1996) and a biography of the cartoonist David Low (1985). He is a Council member of the Hansard Society, and he used to chair the Independent Television Commission’s committee responsible for advising on advertising rules.