Personal Image

Abstract

The personal image of politicians — the set of characteristics associated with them in the public mind — is a central element in modern democratic politics.

It will be an unfortunate day if it should come about that an election in this country is decided not by what either side says, but by the way they looked while saying it.

Times editorial about the dangers of television, 1955¹

Unfortunately, because of [Neil Kinnock’s] physical appearance on TV a lot of people, especially women, did not think he would make a prime minister.

Denis Healey, 1992²

Gordon [Reece] was absolutely terrific … he understood that it wasn’t enough to have the right policies, one had to look good in putting them over, and he said my hair had to be changed and we’d better have a look at the make-up and we’d better have a look at the clothes and see how they looked on television, and so on.

Margaret Thatcher, 1995³

Pipes, in politics, are extremely useful: they can be filled, lit, tamped down or sucked in while the owner is thinking out a reply to a tricky question; they can be waved about for emphasis, or they can be sucked slowly to give a reassuring, thoughtful and trustworthy effect.

Baroness Falkender (Marcia Williams), former private and political secretary to Harold Wilson, 1983⁴

The more Wilson appears to be contrived and the more he concentrates on his ‘image’, the more you will — and should — appear to come over naturally and spontaneously. The bane of Wilson’s life has been the interference of PR men and gimmickry. In contrast you should appear to eschew all the tricks…. Therefore, we must make certain that we get no stunts, no tricks and that no-one for a moment thinks that the PR men are getting at you!

Publicity advice to Edward Heath from his PR man, Geoffrey Tucker, 1969⁵