Spin Won't Work for Products or Political Parties

Beginning of article

Over-selling a brand is ridiculous: the buying public is not stupid

As a veteran of only three years as an MP for Putney, I am still often asked what I did before I entered the House of Commons. "A businessman," I answer. "Ah, an accountant," they say. No, a marketer. So how did a lend up becoming an MP?

When I left university it was to join Unilever and a long defunct produce called Treetop - a squash drink launched by Van den Bergh in 1964. But I soon found myself in Kenya marketing over-the-counter goods and was subsequently merchandise-controlling non-foods in Kingsway Stores in Nigeria. The Biafran War was not to my liking, so I moved back to the UK, and, with …