ted to the belief that the presentation of policy is perhaps as important as the policy itself (Franklin 1998). This superficial attitude of style over substance may have been borne in the 1980s, where government advertising budgets expanded to such a degree that, by 1989, the government was the largest single buyer of advertising in the UK. Advertising is now an essential part of any political party, and it can perhaps be argued that the government need to promote their policies as much as any company needs to advertise their latest product. The government buys most of its advertising from the Central Office of Information (COI), an agency which advises governments on marketing campaigns and press work as well as supplying the necessary staff, such as journalists, press officers, film makers and editors (Franklin 1999). Through using the COI, the government can
             obtain considerable discounts but it will also 'top-up' its advertising using private sector expertise from agencies such as Saatchi and Saatchi. However, the New Labour government has come under heavy criticism for its advertising expenditure, which, since Labour came to power in 1997, has risen steadily year on year. The year 2000 saw an advertising spend of £102.7 million - over double of the £43.8m spent in 1997 - whilst in March 2001 (a month before the general election), the government spent a quarter of its annual budget on self-promotion . This huge commitment to advertising and the use of taxpayers' money raised anger and concern in many sectors. Michael Ancram, Conservative Party chairman, said it was "yet more evidence of a government obsessed with spin", while Sir Michael Partridge, a former Secretary of the Department of Social Security, believed it was "an improper use of taxpayers' money". Gallup polls reported that three quarters of the public wanted the government to place greater emphasis on practical ach...