How to spin a political embarrassment

I don’t want to appear to be taking sides with the Conservatives in the UK, but I think they’re making some obvious mistakes in the PR department. I know they’ve only been in power since May, but frankly, that’s no excuse for shoddy messaging.

For example, a Tory MP named Mark Reckless didn’t take part in a crucial budget vote earlier this week because he was too drunk. The headline in the BBC says the MP is sorry, a piece in the thoroughly awful Daily Mail suggests he should change his name to “Legless,” and so on.

Come on, Tories. The guy’s name is Reckless. At the bare minimum, your first response should have been to ask his constituents what they expected in the first place.

But more than that, you’re the ruling party, and you’re ostensibly the party of fiscal conservatism. How could you possibly miss such a great opportunity to rebrand the whole thing as “no Reckless Tory voting on the budget?”

Seriously, guys. It took me about ten seconds to come up with that joke, and I’m sure I’m not the first person who’s made some variation of it. I mean, the UK’s got five hours on me, and they’re the ones who are voting for you. Fix your Reckless PR strategy!

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