If political campaigning has been suspended, why is Theresa May on TV every five minutes?

Last Updated: May 23, 2017By

Theresa May’s statement on the Manchester bombing is being repeated regularly on TV news channels.

I may be exaggerating slightly, but Mrs May is certainly getting a lot of airtime out of the Manchester attack.

I know she’s the prime minister, and I know it’s a national emergency, but we are still in an election period and nobody can say that the other political leaders are getting anything like the same coverage, even though they all have messages of their own.

If the Tories’ poll ratings enjoy a bounce after this incident, then they will be guilty of the worst kind of politics – using a tragedy for petty political positioning.

Her statement was more than eight minutes long, meaning TV news editors can show different clips of it, depending on their own purposes. Here it is:

Jeremy Corbyn also made a statement in front of the cameras. Apparently it appeared once on BBC News:

I’ve seen nothing from the other UK political leaders.

What are ordinary people to think of the fact that Theresa May is all over the news and Jeremy Corbyn isn’t? It is still an election period and, to be honest, the news media should be giving equal coverage to all political parties.

As it is, every time Mrs May appears on TV, it might as well be a party political broadcast for her, and her Conservatives.

This leads to the obvious question:

Wouldn’t it have been better for official announcements to have been made by a non-party political representative at this time?

I raised this issue on Twitter. Here are a couple of the responses:

Already some people are speculating about whether the Tories engineered this tragedy for precisely such a purpose. I would love to debunk such ideas but – in an age when Conservative policies have led to the deaths of thousands of people suffering with long-term illnesses and disabilities – my motivation to do so is… somewhat lacking.

If the Tories’ poll ratings enjoy a bounce after this incident, then they will be guilty of the worst kind of politics – using a tragedy for petty political positioning.

I trust I would not be alone in finding that sickening.

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19 Comments

  1. NMac May 23, 2017 at 2:29 pm - Reply

    By “no politics” May and her cohorts mean no politics from anyone but them. Usual snide Tory tactics.

    • Dan May 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm - Reply

      It is fortunate that the Tories have such a well established respect for human life, otherwise one might suspect that they had instigated the bombing…

  2. Andrew Longworth-Dames May 23, 2017 at 2:43 pm - Reply

    What about the front page of The Sun?

  3. Roland Laycock May 23, 2017 at 3:13 pm - Reply

    Its May and her cohorts that have backed the US in its campaign to murder around the world and innocent people in the UK will suffer for it, we need to rid UK politics of them

  4. Jo May 23, 2017 at 3:44 pm - Reply

    It’s not only campaigning that’s been suspended though is it. At 5 mins 46 May says that the election itself has been suspended. Any idea for how long? I agree with not campaigning for a couple of days as a mark of respect, but to suspend the election?? I think that’s a little over the top don’t you?

    Funny that, just when May was wobbling….

    • Mike Sivier May 23, 2017 at 6:30 pm - Reply

      No, the election will still happen on June 8.

  5. dee drake. May 23, 2017 at 4:24 pm - Reply

    surely halting the democratic process by any longer than a day of respect (tho’ msm seemed to have missed that memo) is capitulating to the terrorist.

  6. Barry Davies May 23, 2017 at 4:48 pm - Reply

    Political campaigning should not have been suspended.

  7. Dan May 23, 2017 at 4:50 pm - Reply

    Isn’t it obvious?
    You’re supposed to think that Corbyn is a terrorist sympathiser.

  8. john waddington May 23, 2017 at 8:53 pm - Reply

    the election is still on for the 8th June is it? anyone know how long before the campaigns (by the other parties) can resume?

  9. John May 23, 2017 at 9:47 pm - Reply

    Could be suspended for up to 6 days apparently?

    • Mike Sivier May 23, 2017 at 11:04 pm - Reply

      My information is that it has been suspended until further notice. But the election must still take place on June 8, because that is the date set for it, by law.

  10. Thomas May 24, 2017 at 2:11 am - Reply

    Every day it is suspended after the first day, makes it less likely that the Labour Party will win. Suspending it for a day is ok to get organized and show respect and let May concentrate on dealing with the terrorist attack, but after that it helps the Tories as they are the ones in government.

  11. Jenny May 24, 2017 at 8:28 am - Reply

    I have read that May has suspended the election campaign till Sunday. So a week in which she can still campaign but the other parties cannot and the press will try and say how marvelous she is doing etc. After she knowingly cut the number of police down by at least 20,000 when she was warned that the police would not be able to function properly in a terrorist attack. She has cut funding to border control. And the A&E departments in hospitals are being closed down all on her watch. But we are all told because she is now putting troops on our streets in a first step to martial law that she is doing a good and stable job.

  12. Frances Kay May 24, 2017 at 11:23 am - Reply

    The question that should be asked is not to Corbyn but to May. Her hostility to the police when she was Home Secretary has left cuts too deep. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/02/inspectorate-police-engaging-dangerous-practices-austerity-cuts-diane-abbott?CMP=share_btn_fb

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