ANALYSIS
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Scott Morrison's people might enjoy a smile this weekend.
All those spin doctors, political junkies and serial plotters might bask in the knowledge that the Australian way of winning elections has just worked a treat in Britain.
![Boris Johnson scored a convincing win over Jeremy Corbyn in Thursday's UK general election. Picture: Getty Images Boris Johnson scored a convincing win over Jeremy Corbyn in Thursday's UK general election. Picture: Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tPntrWhUbGLyDWYCTv46rt/5194a772-6a7f-4873-b9c5-197f4c5a6cfc.jpg/r0_122_5469_3646_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
And they would be right. They are entitled to an extra, celebratory Weetbix.
Back in May, the Coalition won power in Canberra despite the open disarray following the leadership spill which pushed Malcolm Turnbull to jump overboard in 2018. There was a widespread feeling, certainly among the leftish commentariat, that warring parties are doomed to defeat. It was surely Labor's time.
It wasn't.
Seven months later, the Conservative party trounced Labour, despite a widespread feeling among leftish commentators that nobody could possibly vote for a shambolic chancer with a history of being sacked for dishonesty.
At the heart of Boris Johnson's triumph was an Australian strategist who had come straight from the Morrison campaign. What Isaac Levido learnt in Canberra, he deployed in London. What he learnt in London, he will bring back to Canberra.
The right-wing Daily Mail is already singing his praises: "35-year-old Australian Isaac Levido will win the lion's share of the credit for Boris Johnson's election triumph," an article read.
"Softly spoken and sporting a black beard, Mr Levido was director of politics and campaigning in Conservative Campaign Headquarters - and the undisputed chief of the Tory campaign.
READ MORE:
"There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table - and I don't mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant," Mr Johnson was quoted as saying.
"The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout, 'Jeez, mate, there's a dead cat on the table!' In other words, they will be talking about the dead cat - the thing you want them to talk about - and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief."
![UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he will step down as leader following his party's defeat. Picture: Getty Images UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he will step down as leader following his party's defeat. Picture: Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tPntrWhUbGLyDWYCTv46rt/6b9e2f22-fcde-447e-b7d8-f990378e0781.jpg/r0_285_5568_3428_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The dead cat device has worked well for Mr Johnson over the years.
He became adept at diverting tough interviewers with humour and a sudden change of direction. It's very hard to counter in a studio - which may be why he dodged Britain's toughest interviewers this time.
Mr Johnson exudes disarming charm and wit. His ruffled hair and disorderly clothes, with a skewed tie and trousers hanging below his paunch, give him a likeable, roguish image (though his detractors say the more you know him, the less you like him, particularly in the case of women with whom he has had relationships).
Isaac Levido is said to have realised that Mr Johnson's charm was an electoral asset (as it also seems to be with Scott Morrison). The realisation hastened the successful training of Conservative and Liberal guns on Labour and Labor's leaders.
The general messaging from Conservative headquarters was very clear and direct, as it was from the Liberals. "Labor will tax you to death" was short and sharp, just like "Get Brexit Done" for the Conservatives.
But beyond the formal slogans, social media spread all kinds of claims which were disputed.
In Australia, Labor complained about a blizzard of Facebook posts claiming it had struck a deal with the Greens and unions to introduce a 40 per cent inheritance tax.
![The Liberals' mobile billboard during the federal election. Picture: Sally Whyte The Liberals' mobile billboard during the federal election. Picture: Sally Whyte](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc751l6kbgrc31glwlv21n.jpg/r457_645_3835_2858_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In Britain, a powerful picture of a four-year-old boy lying on a hospital floor was soon falsely dubbed as fake by a right-wing journalist. The "fake" meme travelled fast and far, confusing and dulling the initial impact of the image.
The right does not have a monopoly on the dark arts. Left-wing spin doctors can be just as brutal and cavalier about truth.
But the election does reveal that blizzards of dubious information are easier with social media. Falsehood has wings, and politicians of all stripes can tell lies with impunity.
There are other lessons from Britain: the debate on Twitter is not the debate out there in the real world, where the obsessions of the twittering chatterati seem remote.
Parties of the left - Labor, Labour and the Democrats in the US - who dwell on issues deemed important in the more fashionable watering holes of the cities risk alienating their traditional supporters in the hard-suffering parts of the economy.
A big question for the left is: can it keep the support of its traditional supporters, and also that of the middle-class metropolitan "woke", for whom gender, race, sexuality and global warming dominate. Where does class fit into the culture wars?
There are a few ways in which Britain and Australia do not coincide.
In a country with compulsory voting, the idea of staying at home rather than casting a vote might seem strange. In Britain, "turnout" is crucial.
Boris Johnson's Conservatives got 300,000 more votes than did Theresa May's in 2017, but Labour got 2.6 million fewer than it did in 2017. Former Labour voters either stayed away or switched to another non-Tory party. Their decision put Boris Johnson into Downing Street.
In Australia, tactical voting is easier than in Britain. You have lists of candidates and can give them preferences.
According to Carl Bridge, professor of Australian Affairs at King's College in London, preferential voting probably makes the lower house in Canberra more "mixed" than the House of Commons.
There is one big lesson for the left from both Britain and Australia. Parties don't win by saying taxes will rise, even if it's only for the rich.
But that leaves a conundrum: How can politicians tell the hard truth to citizens, if that truth is that their desire for better schools, hospitals, roads and every other public service will cost them more?
The blizzard of instant claims and falsehoods on social media does not make that debate any easier. Or democracy.