ABSTRACT
Political leaders use political communications to enhance their power and autonomy. Using Labour as a case study, this contribution explores how far modern media communications permit party leaders to set agendas within their parties and in the wider world. The Labour Party's communications strategies enable an 'inner core élite' to project a 'party identity' through the news media in order to manage the party's public profile. Distinguishing between the impact of media on parties as 'producers' and its effects on electors as 'consumers' is important in understanding and explaining the chronology, causes and consequences of political communications.
