Negative campaigning is 'essential' - but Starmer's attacks on Sunak won't work, ad guru Saatchi warns

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Sir Keir Starmer's ads attacking Rishi Sunak won't work because they 'come out of nowhere', ad guru warns.

Mauritius Saatchi, whose company orchestrated the 1979 'Labour is not working' poster, said Mr Starmer's claims about the Prime Minister, which targeted his crime record, came "out of nowhere".

The Saatchi co-founder and Saatchi said negative campaigning in politics is “absolutely essential and correct.” But to be effective, Lord Saatchi said such adverts must be based on "a real philosophical point of view" or "serious thought".

"My objection to these Labor posters would be that they come out of nowhere," he said. told LBC.

Last week the Labor Party launched a series of adverts directly linking the Prime Minister to issues including child sexual abuse, gun crime and theft.

One said Mr Sunak doesn't think child sex offenders should go to jail, while another said he thinks recognized adults guilty of possession of a firearm should be spared from prison. A poster this week saw the party target Mr Sunak's wife after The Independent revealed she had avoided tax by claiming non-dom status.

< p>Lord Saatchi said: "If you want these To be effective, negative campaigns have to start from a real philosophical point of view, from serious thought. It can't come out of nowhere, like these.

The former Conservative president said negativity itself doesn't sell unless it's an "expression of what is deemed to be wrong with the opposing party". /p>

The classic 1979 poster of Saatchi and Saatchi

Referring to his famous poster , he said, "That image, and that phrase 'work doesn't work,' and the benefit queue expressed something completely fundamental to conservative philosophy.

"It expressed the basic Conservative view of a Labor government that it can be very caring and willing to do very nice things. But if it's...