Mad Men & Bad Men: When British Politics Met Advertising

Description

How did a bunch of unelected, unaccountable admen end up running British politics? What happened when a rag-tag band of scruffs and smart-arses invaded Westminster, sprinkling creative fairy dust over earnest politicians? How much did snappy slogans and simplistic soundbites influence election results and even government policies? Sam talks to the people at the heart of it: Alistair Campbell, Peter Mandelson, Tim Bell, Maurice Saatchi, Norman Tebbit, Neil Kinnock - and many more. Everything is here - the moment Margaret Thatcher met the Saatchi brothers, the famous 'Labour Isn't Working' poster and the infamous 'Demon Eyes' campaign. Here, too, are the stories they didn't want you to hear: the man who snorted coke in Number 10, the fist-fights in Downing Street, the all-day champagne binges in Westminster. Dark, revealing and frequently hilarious, Mad Men and Bad Men is a hugely entertaining behind-the-scenes tour of the election campaigns of the last four decades.

Sam Delaney is a writer for the Telegraph, the Guardian, The Big Issue and numerous others. He has made documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 and presents radio shows on BBC London and Talksport. He is the author of two previous books:Get Smashed! The story of the men who made the ads that changed our lives and Night Of The Living Dad: Confessions of A Shabby Father. He is the former editor of Heat magazine and current editor in chief of Comedy Central UK.