Original Spin: Downing Street and the Press in Victorian BritainSecret lunches, off-the-record briefings, the leaking of confidential information and tightly-organised media launches - the well-known world of modern political spin. But is this really a new phenomenon or have politicians been manipulating the press for as long as newspapers have existed? In this important new book, Paul Brighton shows that spin is not something dreamed up by modern, media-savvy politicians. In fact, it was one of the best-kept political secrets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. From Peel and Palmerston to Gladstone and Disraeli, Prime Ministers have all tried to manipulate the press to a greater or lesser extent. Brighton uncovers the covert contacts between Westminster and Fleet Street and reveals how the Victorian occupants of 10 Downing Street secretly conveyed their viewpoints via the newspapers. For the first time, "Original Spin" tells the whole, unvarnished, story. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
Liverpool and Wellington | 31 |
Grey and Melbourne | 59 |
Peel and Russell | 77 |
Lord Derby | 99 |
Lord Aberdeen | 119 |
Lord Palmerston | 129 |
William Gladstone | 185 |
Lord Salisbury and Lord Rosebery | 219 |
Conclusion | 245 |
List of Prime Ministers 1721 to 1902 | 249 |
Endnotes | 251 |
| 265 | |
| 273 | |
Benjamin Disraeli | 153 |
Other editions - View all
Original Spin: Downing Street and the Press in Victorian Britain Paul Brighton No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
Aberdeen Addington administration Anti Jacobin Aspinall Barnes biographer Brougham Cabinet campaign career Catholic Emancipation century chancellor Clarendon coalition colleagues Corn Laws Courier Croker Daily Delane Delane's Derby's Disraeli Disraeli's Duke Earl early editor election ensure favour figure Foreign Office foreign secretary George Gladstone Gladstone's Globe Goderich Granville Grey Harcourt History Home Rule Ibid influence involved Irish John journalism journalists Koss later leader leadership Liberal London Lord Aberdeen Lord Derby Lord Liverpool Lord Palmerston Melbourne Midlothian campaign ministry Morning Chronicle Morning Herald Morning Post National Portrait Gallery never newspaper Northcote opposition Pall Mall Gazette Palmerston paper Parliament parliamentary party Peel Peel's Peelites Perceval Pitt Pitt's Political Press Vol politicians position premiership press management press support prime minister proprietor Quarterly Review Queen reform resignation Rise and Fall role Rosebery Rosebery's Russell Russell's Salisbury Salisbury's seen Stanley subsidies Telegraph Tory Wellington Whig William writing wrote