Threatening broadcasters and fake news rows: how the Tories are making sure they get talked about Where 850,000 watched the Channel 4 debate, 2.5m people watched the Michael Gove video – expect more of this to come

Over at Conservative Campaign Headquarters, staffers have been given an extra incentive to work hard. Whoever is deemed the most effective campaigner of the day is given custody of a cuddly toy Kiwi for 24 hours. There are also permanent prizes up for grabs – star awards with names added. However, while these may work to boost morale amid relentless 16 hour campaign days, the tactics that could win you such a prize are proving increasingly controversial to some in the outside world.

With under two weeks to go until polling the day, the Conservatives are generating headlines – and spades of criticism – not for their policies but for their campaign antics. Whether it’s access arguments, threatening broadcasters or fake news rows, the Conservatives are making sure they get talked about. After Boris Johnson declined an invitation to speak as part of Channel 4’s climate change leaders’ debate, the Tories complained to Ofcom’s election committee over bias and Michael Gove turned up anyway.

Tonight I went to Channel 4 to talk about climate change but Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon refused to debate a Conservative #climatedebate pic.twitter.com/NY1dQOzCgN i's opinion newsletter: talking points from today Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. — Michael Gove (@michaelgove) November 28, 2019

The Conservatives have also managed to ruffle feathers at the BBC. A Tory campaign video sees BBC presenters speaking about Tory election messages. However, the corporation complains that it has been edited in a way as to suggest the presenters are expressing their own views rather than quoting the Tories. The Tories are refusing to take it down.

These incidents are part of a wider trend when it comes to the party’s approach to campaigning. As a senior Conservative involved with running the campaign told me when the election started: “It’s about saying the same thing again and again and if people stop listening finding a different way to say it.”

The party’s messaging has been clear for some time. They want to stick rigidly to the idea that this is a Brexit election. Barely an hour goes by on the airwaves without a Tory politician uttering the campaign slogan ‘Get Brexit Done’. The idea is that this works twofold: 1. Appealing to those who want Brexit delivered 2. Appealing to those who want it done so they can talk about something else. Any move away from this topic to Labour’s preferred turf such as the NHS or domestic issues is seen as undesirable. This is where the second part comes in – finding a different way to say it.

The social media output is being led by the New Zealand duo Sean Topham and Ben Guerin. They work fast – and their importance to the overall operation is visible on a daily basis. They sit in the ‘pod’ at the centre of the room along with the campaign director Isaac Levido and other key figures

Rather than spend a whole day working on one social media package, the pair try lots of smaller things, worry less and see what sticks. They are risk-takers and work on the mantra that a little bit of controversy – as a small portion of a project – can actually prove quite helpful to getting the message shared.

However, their decision to rebrand the Conservative press office Twitter account to masquerade as a fact check account during the ITV head-to-head leader debate drew widespread criticism. Twitter even went so far as to suggest that they would suspend the Tory account if it happened again. Few in CCHQ anticipated that the stunt would take off as it did – thinking it would be controversial for one night rather than run for days. With the gift of hindsight, some would have played it differently.

Broadly speaking, however, this is a Tory campaign team who think the best defence is to be on the offensive. That’s why when it became clear that Channel 4 would not accept a Tory replacement for Boris Johnson in Thursday’s debate, they quickly came up with a strategy that would allow them to control the narrative.

Boris Johnson’s director of communications Lee Cain penned a letter to Ofcom asking them to review Channel 4’s approach – suggesting replacing Johnson with an ice sculpture would be partisan and breach its duties to impartiality. In doing so, the Tories raised other issues with Channel 4 – pointing out a senior member of the team had previously said Johnson amounted to a liar. Michael Gove then turned up at the debate – camera crew in tow – to try and get on the stage to debate. He was refused. However, the row soon became the story rather than merely the idea that Johnson missed the debate. Where 850,000 watched the Channel 4 debate, 2.5m people watched the Gove video.

Expect more of this in the final days of the campaign. The Tories are unafraid of a little bit of controversy if it gives more hours to their policy areas. Even the nurses row this week is seen as a positive by some in CCHQ. The Tories claimed they would fund 50,000 more nurses. But that was a net figure, not the smaller number of new nurses they were hiring. One Tory staffer said this row had been a positive as it meant more people had heard that the Tories were funding nurse places – regardless of how many there are.

This is not a strategy without risk. One of Boris Johnson’s weak points as a leader is the idea that he’ll say whatever it takes to get him out of a tight spot. When he said that truth mattered in that ITV debate, the audience laughed. It follows that there’s a risk that these stunts backfire and play into that narrative. However, for now, the Conservatives view anything that allows their message to be heard as a positive. And on that metric, they are currently winning.

Katy Balls is deputy political editor of The Spectator