Activity

Before showing students either of the PEBs, ask them to explain what they understand by 'Party Election Broadcast' - teasing out some of the main features of the PEB; who makes them/when are they shown/what is their aim/how long do they tend to be etc? (You may want to give them some additional information about this history and rules associated with the PEB, which can be found in the main Screenonline collection on Party Election Broadcasts).

After teasing out some of the key features of the PEB, watch the two Conservative PEBs - first the 1992 PEB of 9mins (you can watch an extract of this instead of the whole film), followed by the short 2001 broadcast piece. Ask students to jot down their observations about each film.

• How would they describe the approach of each film?
• What are the main differences between them?
• What reaction do they think each film aimed to provoke?

Now, encourage students to build on these observations. What can they infer about the political climate at the time when these two films were made? Why do the two films take such radically different approaches? What are the risks associated with these different approaches? Which do they find most effective? If there is time, you may want students to read about the context in which each film was made in greater depth.

Finally, how important do students think PEBs are? Ask them to rate their significance on a scale of one to 10 (where one = not very important) in terms of a) explaining a political party's mission and policies and b) influencing public opinion.

Some more ideas

• Ask students to consider the increasing use of 'portraits' of political leaders in PEBs. Is personality more important than policy in winning votes?