Al Carns on Times Radio
In recent days, there has barely been a political podcast or news talk show that has not featured Al Carns. The Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak resigned as armed forces minister on 11th June. He has not been far from a microphone since, as he tries to establish himself alongside others trying to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
One unimpressed Labour backbencher told me the approach was “gauche”.
Carns has behaved in a noticeably different to his former boss, John Healey. He resigned as defence secretary a couple of hours earlier than Carns quit, and stayed quiet until delivering a speech to the House of Commons today. Indeed, he appearred to slap down his former junior minister during the address, saying:
Many in the media have pressed me to say more since Thursday, but I am a proud parliamentarian, and I wanted first to speak in this House, as I take my seat on the Back Benches for the first time in more than 10 years.
Ouch.
Carns, who regularly likes to remind us of his credentials as a former Marine, does not lack for confidence. His tour of duty in the studios seems to be preparation for the leadership battle that is likely to the Makerfield by-election on Thursday. Indeed, he said on Times Radio that he “isn’t scared of gun fire” if someone should fire the starting gun on that race.
Given Carns is unlikely to win that contest or replace newly installed Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis what is the point of being on every broadcast going?
Yes We Carns
Carns’ involvement in a leadership contest would give him a position in the Labour Party that far exceeds his political experience. (I accept both that he did very senior military jobs prior to entering parliament and that having outside experience is a good thing.) While I’m sure he believes he can be prime minister, his media campaign is really about being seen as equal to the likes of other contenders such as Wes Streeting.
Carns is a big user of social media, too, regularly posting videos of himself doing a pull-ups and the like. Carns (or his team) also respond to critics online. It’s an all or nothing media approach that is likely to end up with… nothing.
I’m sure that Al Carns and his team would argue that you have to blitz the media to get anyone to take notice. Especially if you are relatively new and previously unknown MP. He’d also say he is trying to raise crucial issues, not self-promote.
That is all fair enough, even if it all is ultimately self promotion. However, you also have to time a media blitz and do it in a manner that does not annoy your colleagues. Those are the same people that you might be asking to make you prime minister before too long.
For a man that prides himself on knowing how and when to conduct an attack, Al Carns seems to have got this all wrong.
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