Brendan Bruce

Background

Bruce, Brendan was born on March 6, 1952 in London, England.

The seventh child of Flt Lt Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM KSG RAF (the 'Medium Sized Man' of Colditz)

and Mary Brigid (Lagan) Bruce.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, Joint Honours History & Politics, University Warwick, 1974.

Career

Account executive Royds (London) Ltd., 1974-1976. Director Fletcher Shelton, London, 1976-1983, Ted Bates, London, 1983-1985, DMB & B, London, 1985-1989. Director Communications Conservative Party, 1989-1991.

Independent political consultant, since 1991. Consultant Inkatha Freedom Party, South Africa, 1996, United Democratic Front, Malawi, 1998. 2009, co-founded Low Associates, a strategic communications company based in Brussels.

Achievements

• Brendan Bruce has been listed as a notable Political consultant, writer by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Brendan's Rules of Work: How do we become better at our work, avoid mistakes, become more efficient?

    (Brendan's Rules of Work: How do we become better at our w...)

  • ON THE ORIGIN OF SPIN (2023 Edition) : (Or how Hollywood, the Mad Men and the World Wide Web became the Fifth Estate)

    (Buy ON THE ORIGIN OF SPIN (2023 Edition) : (Or how Hollyw...)

    2023
  • ON OPENING MR KEATLEY'S COMMONPLACE BOOK: Aphorisms for a Better Life

    (ON OPENING MR KEATLEY'S COMMONPLACE BOOK: Aphorisms for a...)

  • Images of power: How the image makers shape our leaders

    (Images of power: How the image makers shape our leaders [...)

Religion

His father was a Papal Knight

Politics

Sometimes mistakenly described as right-wing, he is in fact convinced that the conventional left/right view of politics is dead. He feels that the real fault line in modern politics is between his brand of libertarian individualism and authoritarian collectivism. His Francophile credentials protect him from accusations of Little Englanderism but he feels that Eurofederalists are on the wrong side of history in trying to create larger rather than smaller units of government quote, and that the best government is not only less government but also that which is nearest to the people. “The Whitehall establishment, the CBI, the Anglican church and the unions may not trust the English people,’ he says ‘but I do”. “I am an ochlophile”. Friendly with Cameron and his circle, especially Llewellyn, except for Osborne who he regards as an “an unprincipled, arrogant, charmless tosser, too interested in the political game rather than what’s good for the country, and a vastly overrated dirigiste strategist who cocked up the election campaign by agreeing to include the LD’s in the debates”- quote.” ; also 'Osborne reminds me of Schlesinger's description of Nixon: 'no ideas, only methods' , someone who says “it’s all a game.”

A deeply contradictory personality. Perhaps because of his radical economic and social views ( not to mention his supposedly heretical religious tendencies, all too complicated and RC to explain but involves an obscure theologian called Marcion of Sinope) he is always careful to present the most reserved and conservative face to the world, but this is belied by his private penchant for Harley Davidson motorcycles (he is tattooed with their logo in a place only visited by very close female friends), his collection of modern art, and his libertarian philosophy. A solitary man fond of quoting Jean Paul Sartre (‘hell is other people’) and fiercely anti marriage (‘a noose into which I refuse to introduce my neck’) which he regards as hopelessly against man’s (although not necessarily woman’s) nature. Fond of quoting Maugham’s comment about ‘married bachelors’. He follows the Brahma Kumaris method of meditation, but not in any religious sense.

Membership

Member Lansdowne Club.

Personality

A small bantam cock of a man, both his charm and his ‘bollockings’ are legendary. His secretary once complained when a well rebuked visitor exited from his office and vomited into her wastepaper basket. It was the second time that year. When he was at CCO he had a sign on his desk quoting Caligula: “Oderint dum metuant” (let them hate me as long as they fear me).

On the other hand it is sometimes said that dogs cross over to his side of the street specially to be petted. Short he maybe, but as a silver glove savateur he is not a man to be taken lightly, especially as he sometimes carries a sword stick in public. Once when in Palermo he was the subject of an attempted mugging by three assailants but used the stick to beat off the attackers so severely that when the Sicilian carabineri arrived and found the three hapless assailants, they assumed he was the mugger.

He is notoriously tolerant towards personal staff (amongst whom at D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles there was an unusually large proportion of young blonde women), who are famously loyal, if rather in awe. But with his basilisk stare and Adlerian indifference to the good opinion of others, he is sometimes seen as aloof and remote towards colleagues amongst whom he is sometimes known as ‘Blind Pew’: because he is often used by the hierarchies to deliver their ‘black spot’.

Physical Characteristics: Red hair, bearded, has very piercing blue eyes the color of sapphires

Interests

• Avocations: art, motorcycling, architectural restoration, collecting prints.

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Schopenhauer

• Politicians

  Thatcher, Wellington

• Writers

  Waugh

• Artists

  Rembrandt

• Sport & Clubs

  Tottenham Hotspur

• Music & Bands

  The Beatles

Connections

He was born in London, the seventh child of the legendary WWII hero Flight Lieutenant Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM MA (Oxon) KSG RAF, the 'Medium Sized Man' of Colditz Castle fame.

Father:

Dominic Bruce

Mother:

Mary Brigid (Lagan) Bruce

Grandfather:

William Bruce

Billie Bruce, the "worst-tempered man in the North of England"

boss:

Margaret Hilda Thatcher

References

• Benedict Pringle What was the main thing you learnt from being Director of Communications for the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher? The power of authenticity. When a politician has the moral courage to be themselves, to say and do what they truly believe in, they turn into leaders. This sort of politician is rare, but the public knows genuine conviction when they see it. If you were advising The Labour Party for the 2015 election on their communications, what would you prioritise as the three main messages? I think that comes under the heading of ‘giving aid and comfort to the enemy.’ Ask Ali Campbell, he’s still the only spin doctor Labour have worth a damn. If you could give one piece of advice on political communication, what would it be? I don’t think political communications obey different laws from any other form. Good communications depend on intellectual clarity, creative impact and repetition. The client should supply the clarity, the agency will supply the creativity if they are any good (and the client trusts them) and the money supplies the repetition. The best practical piece of advice I can give is to be very clear in your mind about the desired outcome or response. When drafting a political line to take, concentrate on the HVL, the Headline, Visual and the Lead para that you want to see journalists produce. What’s your favourite piece of political advertising and why? My favourite is still the ‘Hands Up’ poster in the 1987 General Election (when the Cold War was still very chilly and ordinary people still lived in fear that World War III would be nuclear). During a TV interview David Frost said to the Labour leader Neil Kinnock “If you haven’t got nuclear weapons, the choice in that situation would be to subject your forces to an unfair battle.” Kinnock answered in his inimitably confusing way “Yes, what you’re suggesting is that the alternatives are between the gesture, the threat, or the use of nuclear weapons, and surrender. In these circumstances the choice is posed, and this is a classical choice, between exterminating everything you stand for and the flower of your youth, or using all the resources you have to make any occupation totally untenable.” Saatchi immediately saw the opportunity to make any floating voter extremely uneasy about supporting a party that was saying that they would unilaterally give up the use of nuclear weapons if they formed a government and rely on some sort of Dad’s Army guerilla resistance if the Soviets invaded. The poster Saatchi produced and put up on the hoardings within hours, showed a British soldier with his hands up in surrender with the line ‘Labour’s policy on arms.’ It was clear, striking, memorable, witty in a sarcastic sort of way; and deadly.