When It Hits the Fan

Is the Office of PM Beyond PR?


Listen Later

Some jobs just can't be done. Circumstances, events and a changing world simply make them undoable.

This week, David Yelland and Simon Lewis ask whether one such job is communicating on behalf of the Prime Minister. Not just this Prime Minister, but any Prime Minister.

After only five months, the PM's Director of Communications, Tim Allan has quit. He's the fourth person to hold the role under Sir Keir Starmer.

The old levers of PR clearly aren't working and there seems to be a general bafflement has to how to get the public onboard.

Put simply, is Downing Street now beyond PR?

On the extended edition on BBC Sounds, how Buckingham Palace is rapidly changing its PR game. Widely criticised for being too slow to react to the scandal around Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the Palace is going on the front foot - with two statements that would've been inconceivable just months ago.

Plus there's nothing like a formal letter from the Government to put you in the mood for love. That's the hope anyway. In France, all 29-year-olds are being written to - to remind them of their duty to have babies. As you might expect, there's been something of a backlash.

Producer: Duncan Middleton

Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: Eve Streeter
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

When It Hits the FanBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1

4.1

25 ratings


More shows like When It Hits the Fan

View all
Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast by Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

402 Listeners

The Media Show by BBC Radio 4

The Media Show

33 Listeners

The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4

The Briefing Room

62 Listeners

Political Thinking with Nick Robinson by BBC Radio 4

Political Thinking with Nick Robinson

113 Listeners

Newscast by BBC News

Newscast

694 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

768 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,558 Listeners

The News Agents by Global

The News Agents

1,163 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics: Leading by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics: Leading

817 Listeners

The News Agents - USA by Global

The News Agents - USA

393 Listeners

The Rest Is Entertainment by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Entertainment

973 Listeners

Electoral Dysfunction by Sky News

Electoral Dysfunction

112 Listeners

Political Currency by Persephonica

Political Currency

139 Listeners

Radical with Amol Rajan by BBC Radio 4

Radical with Amol Rajan

49 Listeners

Strong Message Here by BBC Radio 4

Strong Message Here

70 Listeners