People divided on whether latest Tory attack is weak or stupid

If there’s one thing the Tories have historically excelled at, it’s running grubby general election campaigns with biting attack ads. Far from every attack landed, but those which did had a habit of occupying the public consciousness. In this election, however, the only brain centres they’re reaching are those which process confusion and disgust:

"You know who's really behind the leader of the Labour Party, don't you? Yes, it's THE DEPUTY LEADER OF THE LABOUR PARTY!"

I don't see them coming back from this https://t.co/F2s92K6Suf

— Adam Mulvey 🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️ (@mulvey_adam) June 9, 2024

Weak

Many argued the attack ad is among the weakest the Conservative Party has ever produced. As noted above, the point of saying someone secretly runs a party is that the shadowy operator in question is out of sight and unelected – neither of which applies to Angela Rayner.

Additionally, it’s not like anyone is voting Labour because they like Keir Starmer and what he claims to be about; they’re voting the Labour because they’re not the Tory Party. And all that aside, Rayner is polling better than Starmer:

Ironically, as people pointed out, there are people behind Starmer we should genuinely be worried about:

"Who's really in charge of Labour?" well there's this guy called Peter Mandelson who was best mates with Jeffrey Epstein, but apparently there's some kind of establishment-wide effort to protect him, which is interesting to say the least https://t.co/GowTwoOD9j

— TheIainDuncanSmiths (@TheIDSmiths) June 8, 2024

See below for an image of Starmer and Mandelson (and below that for an image of Mandelson and Epstein):

This may be the first time Starmer and Mandelson have been photographed together. Starmer has been very careful until now never to be photographed with Mandelson or Blair. https://t.co/MBYNhvoPZi pic.twitter.com/XD8DhS2f0s

— Ragged Trousered Philanderer (@RaggedTP) January 28, 2023

See here for an example of the malign influence this malignant man has on the party:

Six weeks ago, Mandelson said Labour should dilute its union reforms.

Yesterday, it did.

I wouldn't so much call it 'advising' Starmer as manipulating him through the Murdoch press and his lieutenants in the shadow cabinet (the phone calls Ava Santina mentions). https://t.co/KaGaRVASNZ pic.twitter.com/JMF0Hrz0Q4

— Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) May 9, 2024

Here’s our past coverage on Mandelson’s ties to history’s most notorious peadophile:

Mandelson’s association with paedophile Epstein has been known for some time. Just this year, however, a report from JPMorgan Chase suggested that Mandelson was closer to Epstein than we previously knew. As reported by the Independent:

Labour peer Peter Mandelson’s “particularly close relationship” with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been detailed in a shock report by JPMorgan Chase.

The dossier laid bare the senior political figure’s ties to the late paedophile – who was close enough to the former Labour cabinet minister to call him “Petie”.

The report also suggests that Lord Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s New York home in June 2009 – when he was still Gordon Brown’s business secretary and the financier was serving 18 months in prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Mandelson also allegedly called Epstein for a favour in 2009 when the infamous paedophile was in a Florida jail for committing crimes of a paedophilic nature. There’s nothing to suggest that this favour had anything to do with Epstein’s crimes, although Epstein would have been the man to ask, as he was a famously successful paedophile.

Another good point people made was that the Tories don’t want people asking questions like ‘who’s really running who?‘.

Bald journalist and Tony Blair-respecter Ian Dunt, meanwhile, critiqued the ad from a highbrow neo-centrist perspective:

There's so much wrong here. The copy barely makes sense and has no impact. Rayner doesn't fit the role of nightmare puppet master. It all requires way too much background political knowledge. It's just very bad campaigning. https://t.co/YSh8qFuyXb

— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) June 8, 2024

Some argued the ad is sexist:

There’s definitely a case to be made for that, although past deputies like John Prescott did also act as a lightning rod for anti-left wing sentiment. This next tweet goes a step further in explaining precisely why the Tories are so freaked out by Rayner:

This one goes further again:

You should’ve asked guys. I’d have let you borrow this if you’re so scared of the woman. https://t.co/ef0YPRs2oN pic.twitter.com/XG1MJASHnO

— christhebarker (@christhebarker) June 8, 2024

Others pointed out it’s not surprising we’d get an ad like this given who their donors are:

Stupid

In contrast to those who think the Tory attack ad is weak are those who think it’s just stupid. Chief among this group are the puppet-understanders:

That's a hand puppet. This is a puppet on strings. See the difference? https://t.co/8EY05lcGfG pic.twitter.com/hqNoa9Hnx3

— General Boles (@GeneralBoles) June 8, 2024

Some people are suggesting no intelligent thought went into the ad whatsoever:

Other pointed out the ad goes against Margaret Thatcher’s famous mantra:

Oh, grow up!

Let me remind you of something your former party leader and PM once said… https://t.co/pHCUsApc8n pic.twitter.com/E7zrKKIi6F

— Laurence Molloy (@MolloyLaurence) June 8, 2024

To be fair to the Tory PR team, though, Thatcher was a cunt, and personal attacks are often well deserved and funny.

The Tories Muppet politics

Given the state of the Tory Party in 2024, it’s not surprising their general election campaign has been an absolute state. It has been funny, though, and with four weeks left to go, we’re sure there’ll be more laughs yet to come.

Featured image via The Geniuses at the Tory Party