The 1997 election was a struggle, not just for votes, but also to control the campaign agenda. Significant, but contradictory, challenges faced the media, parties and the public. For journalists, the problem was how to engender any zip into the campaign. Ever since Black Wednesday, in September 1992, Labour had seemed assured of victory while Conservative support floundered in the doldrums. For five years, perhaps it just seemed like longer, pundits had been writing of the end of the Conservative era, bolstered by all the accumulated evidence from opinion polls, by-elections and local elections. By the start of the six-week official campaign, the horse-race story was almost lifeless. Moreover, to the dismay of leader-writers, commentators and columnists, Blair's strategic shift towards the centre-left had removed much of the drama of serious policy conflicts between the major parties. Few issues remained where one could discern clear blue water between Labour and the Conservatives - devolution and constitutional reform, perhaps the faint ghost of trade union rights and spending priorities - but on so much the contest was a classic case of an e

heating. By launching the draft manifesto New Labour, new life for

caught embracing a "17-year-old blonde Soho nightclub hostess" while

The evening news and current affairs programmes on British

the 'time for a change' sentiment. The issue failed to go away since

deeply mired in divisions, arguing with each other not addressing

complex and diverse media environment during the permanent campaign

dividends in their media coverage. The economy absorbed another

The Conservative agenda was also sabotaged by the issue of standards

the Daily Express, and the Daily Mail32. If ratings are weighted by

overall majority of readers who said they would vote Conservative

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Approximate Pages = 63 (250 words per page double spaced)