When I hear the words ‘Party Political Broadcast’, I am instantly bored. My brain goes numb, my mind wanders, the sounds around me go fuzzy and soon, I’m daydreaming about tonight’s dinner. We endure watching party leaders waltz around an urban setting, normally a school or a community centre, describing the same policies we’ve heard every single day for the last three weeks, talking to ‘real people’ and assuming I’m going to have this stark awakening, this call or this change of heart and my voting priorities will revert to them.
So, when there was the announcement of the Green Party’s political broadcast for the 2015 General Election, my thoughts were already turning to a university assignment (it gets that bad). However, all too quickly, I realised I was watching a man in a suit at a piano singing. And then three other men joined him…and then they were dancing…wait, is that Nigel Farage?!
For those a little confused, the Green Party – in a bid to win over some more voters – released their party political broadcast imagining a ‘Coalition’ boy band featuring lookalikes of David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg, all in ‘political harmony’ with one another. Pure genius or just plain embarrassing, who knows?
It’s clear whose winning in the race for YouTube views. Westminster’s answer to Take That had over 500,000 views the day after its official broadcast on TV, while the Labour Party’s broadcast (using the cheap celebrity trick of featuring Sherlock’s Martin Freeman) had only just over 250,000 views.
In all honesty, I have acquired a little bit more respect for the Green Party. Once a party that was mocked, the last few years have shown that the party has some serious support, especially from young people. The Green Party have become like that person at school. No-one really notices him/her until they do something really cool. Meanwhile, the other parties are like the annoying kids at the back of the classroom, the people who are constantly going on about the cool things they’ve done, that skateboard incident or that fail on that essay, but really, we’ve heard it all before. We want to hear something refreshing.
In short, Green Party: hats off to you for changing the boring world of political broadcasts and reviving my interest in British politics. I salute you.
jaybee says
Don’t be another youngster fooled by Marxists posing as Greens offering the chance to have your cake and eat it.
Life is tough enough as it is for students without bankrupting the nation through lunatic policies that just don’t add up.
When a party puts on a show like this then you know they have something to hide. Your post makes no mention of policy just the froth of publicity.
Why does the Green Party manifesto make no mention of global human over-population?