If anyone still needed evidence that the Telegraph has positioned itself as the lone official voice of the Conservative party, Monday’s front page confirmed it.
Not only did the story about the support for the Tories from 5,000 small business owners fill the entire front page but the list had been provided by Conservative Central Office.
The Conservative “authors” were first outed by Andy Hicks, who describes himself on Twitter as a “Sarcastic. Republican. Pessimist. Atheist. Socialist. Feminist”.
The Telegraph devoted the whole of its broadsheet front page to this headline about an exclusive letter of support: “Businesses like ours have helped to create 1,000 jobs a day since 2010. We would like to see David Cameron and George Osborne given the chance to finish what they have started. A change now would be far too risky.”
A line which could have been written by Tory central command, as indeed it was.
The Telegraph’s similar story about support for the Tories from big business led that day’s TV news bulletins in early April. It seems less likely that the latest letter will do the same, especially on a day when more news emerges of the terrible earthquake in Nepal.
Other than the Telegraph, the most surprising thing on the first day of the start of the last full week before the general election, was how few political leads there were echoing grumblings from newspaper backbenches that this election is dull and turning readers off.
The Mail’s splash on doctors drawing up end-of-life plans for the over-75s suggest that the election is not seen as a way to grab readers with newsstand shouting. Death is more exciting.
The Times, which appears to have been a surer Tory supporter under John Witherow’s editorship than many of his predecessors, led with Labour’s plans to cut stamp duty for first time buyers. Perhaps Witherow was emboldened by its master’s voice remarking on doubts about Cameron’s leadership over the weekend. In a wonderful string of tweets this weekend, Rupert Murdoch, ultimate owner of the Times, wrote: “UK. Failure to win majority against either Brown in crisis or Miliband would mean chop for Cameron. Open talk today in party and press.”
The Financial Times also led on Miliband’s plans to scrap stamp duty for most first-time buyers as, less surprisingly, did the pro-Labour Daily Mirror. The Sun led on the “race to save 7 Brits on Everest” – presumably rescuers were a bit busy with the thousands of others – and left its election coverage to a tiny picture of “Ed Miliband’s union paymaster Len McCluskey” looking evil as he gave his “blessing” to a Labour-SNP deal.
The Guardian and the Independent both led on moving accounts from Nepal, with the former also running a warning from the DUP over David Cameron’s English votes for England plan.
The Mail, which has led on the election about one in three days since it started, pushed the warning given by a “scoffing Sturgeon” (or the SNP leader otherwise known as the “most dangerous in the world”) to the equivalent of page 2 after an advertising spread paid for by Next.
The media already seems to be hoping that what comes next after 7 May will be more exciting than the build up to it.