Has the government lost control of its communications?

Are Lord Malloch Brown's comments just the latest example of the government’s inability to manage its communications? We saw it with the Labour government of the 1970’s, and with John Major’s Tory government in the 1990’s, but bearing in mind the presence of Peter Mandelson, the current Labour governments apparent inability to present itself as a united front is perhaps the most surprising. The names of Caroline Flint, Hazel Blears, James Purnell to name but a few illustrate the depth and timescale over which the government has been having problems retaining its communications discipline. To be fair, since Purnell’s resignation things do seem to have improved. Charles Clarke seems to have been quietened down, we haven’t heard anything from James Purnell himself and Milliband is very much on message. This suggests Mandelson is having his usual affect at ensuring only trusted lieutenants are given exposure in the media. The problem for Mandelson seems to be two, perhaps three fold. Firstly Brown has been about long enough to ensure that he has enough enemies who are only too happy to make his life more difficult. Secondly, the dissemination and competitive nature of the today’s media means that the opportunities for comment are vast and therefore, from a communications management point of view, far harder to manage. Thirdly, unfortunately for Mandelson his boss has made a number of errors that has affected his creditability both within his party and within the media. In the end it’s very simple – people want to back a winner.