Here we go then, no time to lose as we ride the wave of optimism that is sweeping the UK after the general election results.

It seems only fitting that we dedicate this week’s Good and Bad PR to the Labour party election campaign.

Fourteen years of hurt for Labour came to an abrupt and predicted end after last Thursday’s election win. I think historians will not look upon the 2024 election campaign with a huge amount of interest or excitement.

All Labour had to do was sit tight, say very little and they would surely romp home. That campaign plan, combined with Farage’s mob coming in and splitting the Conservative vote, worked brilliantly.

I don’t think too many of the parties pledges really landed. 

Whilst many talked about Labour’s “just keep quiet” approach I think it is doing their comms teams an injustice. They faced difficult times, especially at the start of the campaign and Diane Abbott emerging as a potential thorn in Keir's side. The party machine moved quickly and decisively (in political terms) to address and solve the issue.

They also learned their lessons from previous ill-judged campaign ideas. No gimmicks (stone manifesto), no awkward photo-shoots (eating never looks sexy on camera) and no walking near the sea when the tide is coming in (one for all my fellow old-PR-people right there).

I have not seen that kind of political-party-togetherness since the Osborne and Cameron era. It bodes well for the Labour party going forward.

Of course, as much as Labour won the election, the Conservatives stand accused of giving their traditional voters little option but to look elsewhere. The comms optics around D-Day were catastrophic. The betting scandal seemed to sound the starting pistol for the Conservative campaign messaging to switch from “we can win this” to “let’s avoid a Labour Super-Majority”.

Once Labour swept into power and the keys to Downing Street were handed over, they hit the ground running. Kier’s first speech was spot on, his appointments were slick, well received by political analysts and the public alike and all in all, very dynamic.

The two main opposition parties are now in a time of flux. The Conservatives are rocked and need to time to regroup before they face any chance of being seen as a credible opposition. The Lib-Dems are struggling to shake off the “Party-Ed” election campaign image and return to being seen as a serious party.

As for Reform, well, this is the elephant in the room. It turns out that they pulled in a larger than expected amount of support from younger voters. Disenchanted with both the main parties and clearly not falling for the Ed-on-water gimmicks, they decided Reform was the way forward. In my mind this is a worrying trend.

I still have a nagging feeling that Reform will merge with the Conservatives at some point soon and it will enable a back door route for Farage to become the leader. Stranger things have happened in global politics.

At the time of writing, we are riding the crest of a wave of optimism and long may it continue. As we all know though, politics is a dirty game a scandal will no doubt be lurking around the corner. How Kier handles any scandal will be interesting to see.

Right now, he has the kind of experienced comms people who can handle any crisis, a united party behind him and the court of public opinion on his side. I hope he allows himself a minute to recognise his significant achievements.

Great PR for the Labour Party and their comms team.