‘That’s it, isn’t it?’ Top Tory pressed on how it feels to lose ad agency that got Thatcher into power

Armed forces minister James Heappey said the public is not interested in ‘who’s backing who’, insisting the government is focused on ‘delivery’

A Tory minister attempted to brush off The Independent’s revelation that Margaret Thatcher’s favourite ad agency has switched its backing to Labour with an attack on the “cruel” party.

Armed forces minister James Heappey said the public is not interested in “endless navel-gazing” and “who’s backing who”, insisting the government is focused on “delivery”.

But Mr Heappey was challenged by veteran broadcaster Nick Ferrari, who said: “How does it feel to lose the ad agency that got Mrs T into power? That’s about it now, isn’t it?”

It comes after Saatchi & Saatchi’s strategy chief told The Independent that Britain needs saving from “five more years of stagnation, cruelty and despair”.

Richard Huntington condemned Tory “divisiveness” – but also insists that Sir Keir Starmer still has to prove he can be an effective leader like Thatcher.

Writing for The Independent, the ad guru said Sir Keir still has to overcome deep public pessimism and “overturn the idea that government of any stripe is ineffective”.

“Whether you loved or hated her, Margaret Thatcher was the embodiment of effective government,” writes the ad guru, challenging Sir Keir to show how both main parties have been able to change things for the better over the decades.

He added, with “a generation of voters only knowing 15 years of national regression”, Labour is “almost certain to win the next election”.

Mr Huntington writes: “He [Starmer] will need to show humility and champion effective government.”

The intervention by the Saatchi & Saatchi chief represents the latest blow for Rishi Sunak’s party after Conservative grandee Kenneth Clarke praised Rachel Reeves’s work as shadow chancellor following a ringing endorsement from former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

The renowned advertising firm – responsible for the iconic behind the “Labour isn’t working” ads prior to the 1979 landslide – had been closely tied with the Conservatives after helping deliver three successive electoral victories for Thatcher.

The Tories later moved to the breakaway M&C Saatchi, however.

Asked about the revelation by LBC on Monday, Mr Heappey said political parties “seek the endorsement of various national newspapers and big organisations”.

“But I am not sure Saatchi is on the list of organisations that one seeks to court,” he added.

Mr Heappey said Rishi Sunak is “clear on what the priorities need to be” and the “public’s desire for the government to deliver”.

He added: “With the election still some time away, I suspect that what the public wants to see and hear from their politicians is not endless navel-gazing over who’s backing who and what level you’re on in the national polls.

“They want to see some delivery, and if we can get on and deliver, maybe we earn a hearing when the election comes.

“But that needs to be the priority. And that’s exactly what the prime minister is focused on.”

Mr Huntington said that while Labour was set to be the biggest party, there was still a question over whether Sir Keir “can pull off a majority or even a landslide” unless he creates real public enthusiasm for his party.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s chief strategy officer said the crucial difference between Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997 and today was cynicism about “the idea of effective government”.

He wrote: “In 1997, people believed that the UK government could deliver. In 2023, they don’t believe that any government has the power to make the slightest bit of difference.”

Mr Huntington said that while the Tories “scrap for votes through a deliberate strategy of divisiveness ... Labour could spend the next year restoring British people’s belief in the basic concept of effective government”.

Frozen food chain Iceland’s executive chair, Richard Walker, became the latest Tory donor to withdraw his support last month, saying he was “open” to supporting Sir Keir, while Phones4U founder John Caudwell said he would not back the Tories after the “madness” of Mr Sunak’s U-turn on net zero – and that he was thinking of giving to Labour instead.

Another Tory donor, Philip Harris, founder of Carpetright, said the Conservative Party did not “deserve” to win the 2024 general election.