The Conservative Party plans to appoint a new ad agency early next
year as the party machine gears up for the next general election.
Tory leaders have abandoned plans to rely on the panel of volunteers who
advise the party, including Tim Bell, Lord Saatchi and Robin Wight,
opting instead for a formal agency link.
Officials said they were looking for a ’young, hungry’ agency, but would
not rule out appointing a well-established shop.
Sources said the party wanted to recreate the kind of relationship they
enjoyed with Saatchi & Saatchi in the run-up to the 1979 election, when
the agency was credited with helping Margaret Thatcher to power. The
Conservatives parted company with the agency in 1995 after the Saatchi
brothers broke away to form M&C Saatchi.
The link with the brothers continued when M&C created the Tories’ 1997
election campaign, but ended shortly afterwards amid controversy over
the agency’s ’demon eyes’ advertising.
