“Every journalist in the country has my phone number and they know if they need something from Keir, or any of the cabinet, they can come to me and they’ll get an answer.”
Four years ago Grace Pritchard was a student, now she is Head of Regional Communications for the Labour Party and is on first-name terms with the Prime Minister. She described her rapid rise for Leeds Trinity University’s Journalism & Media Week.
“There is a right-leaning media in this country.”
Grace Pritchard, Regional Communications for The Labour Party
Grace pivoted from political correspondent to public relations when she realised she couldn’t be politically impartial. Within three years she was Head of Press at Best for Britain, then Senior Communications Manager for the Labour MP Yvette Cooper.
When Pritchard was promoted within the party to her current post earlier this year, the mandate was clear – prepare for and win a general election.
Images of Grace Pritchard, Regional Communications for the Labour Party and Lecturer Leigh Purves
“What was really important to Labour’s win was having relationships with papers naturally friendly to the Labour Party like the Mirror, but also having really strong relationships with the Daily Mail and Telegraph.”
Her media contacts help Grace tip news cycle narratives in Labour’s favour, and she’s not afraid to employ the ‘dark arts.’
“You either ‘kill’ stories by getting rid of it, like by debunking it and making it not news. Or by giving the journalists something that’s more interesting and ferrying them in a different direction: which is the ‘dark arts’”.
“I’m constantly aware of the threats MPs face and it is really scary”
Grace Pritchard
Grace thinks the challenge of changing public perception of Labour is made more difficult by the UK’s news outlets.
“There is a right-leaning media in this country.” Grace is the slick communicator you would expect but she paused here, “But some of the best stories and biggest wins in my career have been with outlets like the Telegraph.”
Labour’s summer election honeymoon was short-lived as riots spilled out across the country. Fuelled by right and far-right politics online, there were real concerns for MPs welfare.
“I’m constantly aware of the threats MPs face and it is really scary. It ultimately dampens our democracy.”
Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, was blamed for enflaming public discourse in the days leading up to the riots, “We are alive to the fact that Reform did very well and there is an appetite for that across the country.”
Grace is aware of the divisive nature of modern politics, as well as the accusations that Labour’s tone since winning the election has been negative. Labour want to highlight delivery and are aware of public attitude to politics in general.
Grace Pritchard ended her interview by speaking on combatting division and populism, by focusing on the positive work Labour are doing.
“We are actively trying to put out positive news stories. Because the feedback we get is that people are absolutely sick of the fighting in politics.”