Tories tweet about Blue Planet in bid to be 'caring' party
It was the programme that transfixed the nation as it explored the fragile beauty of our oceans and seas.
But Blue Planet II has also become a key part of the Conservatives’ social media fightback as they attempt to rebrand themselves as the ‘caring’ party.
During the broadcast of the final programme of the series on Sunday night, there was an unexpected wave of tweets from Tory MPs highlighting their party’s record on the environment.
Several posted pre-prepared graphics, slogans and hashtags explaining recent policy announcements.
In a coordinated media strategy, the Twitter messages highlighted recent pledges on tackling the scourge of plastic waste, banning the trade in ivory and putting CCTV in slaughterhouses.
They all featured hashtags for the Conservatives, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) or Blue Planet II.
Among the Tory MPs who tweeted were Antoinette Sandbach, Andrew Rosindell, Rachel Maclean and Anna Soubry.
Vicky Ford, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Steve Baker and Zac Goldsmith also shared messages inspired by the programme.
Carrie Symonds, the Conservative Party’s director of communications, who describes herself as an ‘animal lover’, also tweeted about the programme.
The policy marks a revival of the David Cameron era, when the Tory party was represented by a tree and the slogan ‘Vote blue, go green’.
The former prime minister pledged to run Britain’s greenest ever Government and put environmental strategies at the heart of his vow.
Yet Mr Cameron was later embarrassed after he was reported to have demanded that ‘green crap’ be removed from energy bills to bring down costs.
The development marks a change in the Tory party’s approach to social media after it was criticised during the General Election campaign.
The Conservatives are seeking to rebrand as the ‘caring party’, and will put the environment, animal welfare and housing at the centre of the strategy.
MPs have been told to push the message that the Tories are no longer the ‘nasty party’ and are instead looking towards the future.
The Conservatives are trying to improve their presence online after Corbyn-supporting group Momentum’s highly successful use of social media during the election campaign.
Tory MPs have been briefed on the new social media strategy by Theresa May’s chief of staff, Gavin Barwell.
It follows the recent appointment of Mr Barwell’s former parliamentary assistant, Mario Creatura, as a digital special adviser, a new post in Number 10, to manage the Tory party’s online presence.
Mrs May’s Brexit statement yesterday triggered a further surge in tweets from Tory MPs, who retweeted a graphic explaining her statement.
The Prime Minister has even started tweeting regularly for the first time and updated her followers with the graphic yesterday.
In an indication of how little she used the app, it took aides more than an hour-and-a-half to find the password to Mrs May’s Twitter account.
The new strategy follows controversy over a false report that Tory MPs had voted that animals did not feel pain.
The report on The Independent’s website spread rapidly on the internet. Unusually, Tory MPs posted their furious reactions online.
Observers noted that the quick response indicated a change to the Party’s usual approach to criticism on Twitter.
Momentum successfully used social media during the General Election campaign to mobilise its supporters.
It also created car-sharing apps to get volunteers to marginal seats and had an online campaign to promote Labour’s message.