SA strategist’s innings in UK politics

Former DA strategist Ryan Coetzee now wraps himself in the yellow livery of Britain's Liberal Democrats.

Former DA strategist Ryan Coetzee now wraps himself in the yellow livery of Britain's Liberal Democrats.

Published May 8, 2015

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Ryan Coetzee is arguably the best political strategist South Africa has ever produced, but he is not such a good cricketer, writes Gasant Abarder.

Cape Town - Ryan Coetzee is one helluva political strategist – arguably the best South Africa has ever produced. He is the man behind the face of a party – in the background, yet omnipresent in the policy.

But he is not such a good cricketer (even though he will protest to the contrary). Your correspondent, the wicket-keeping current editor of the Cape Argus, took a blinder of a catch to dismiss Coetzee in a social match at Newlands cricket ground – which involved a team ironically called the Spin Doctors – that has remained a sore point for the strategist.

He says of that terrific catch that saw him back in the changeroom one fine Sunday, a few years ago: “I’d like to point out that said editor did well to hang on to that catch because had he dropped it, the extremely dangerous batsman might have taken the game away.”

But Coetzee thankfully has other talents, chiefly as being the go-to man for politicians like Tony Leon and Helen Zille in the past, and currently as strategist for the UK’s Liberal Democrats leader, Nick Clegg, and now general elections strategist.

At the time of this interview, his former employers, the DA, find themselves in the midst of a leadership race after Zille announced she was stepping down as leader. And the Lib Dems will either be celebrating or licking their wounds depending on the results of Thursday’s general elections in Britain.

Coetzee has immersed himself in British politics.

“The fundamentals of governing and campaigning are the same in the UK and SA, but the electoral system, the way of doing politics, the way the media work and the issues are very different.

“There is an interesting piece to be written about the similarities and differences between the way politics is conducted in the two countries. Perhaps I will write it once the election is over.

“But here’s one thing that’s strikingly different: in the UK, some papers pick a side during elections and then relentlessly campaign on behalf of their chosen party.

“I know some might say that happens in SA too, but, trust me, not like it does in the UK.

“Luckily the broadcasters are governed by regulations that ensure fairness, so there is still a route to the voters for parties the Sun or (Daily) Mail just don’t like.

“One other difference: these guys just don’t know what a rally is: 200 people turn up and they are happy. No buses, no T-shirts, no singing songs about machine guns. What kind of rally is that?”

Coetzee became politicised from a young age and was influenced by his father’s take on the South Africa of the bad old 1980s.

“I was born in Goodwood, Cape Town. My father was passionately anti-apartheid (and vehemently anti-PW Botha) and I think his moral clarity and passion resonated with me.

“I became one of those odd 10-year-olds with strong views on politics, which didn’t make me very popular when we moved to what was then Pietersburg in the far north in 1981.

“I distinctly remember an argument with classmates about whether the ANC were ‘terrorists’ or ‘freedom fighters’. Luckily I was OK at rugby so they forgave me my seditious political views.

“I later went to the University of Cape Town where I got involved in DP politics to the great detriment of my studies – no regrets! – where I first met Tony Leon and James Selfe. Once I started working for the DP in 1997 I never looked back.

“James and Tony had a lot of faith in me at a young age and gave me a chance to prove myself by making me the DP’s parliamentary manager when I was 24.”

In his not so humble opinion, Coetzee believes that many a South African politician would wilt under the scrutiny of the intense UK media focus in the lead up to an election.

“UK politics is much more focused on the policy differences between the parties. Those policies are also subject to much higher levels of scrutiny than is the case in SA.

“Having said that, values and identity issues are relevant in both countries, especially now that nationalism is on the rise in Scotland and England.

“UK politics requires parties and politicians to explain themselves and make their case much more fully than SA politics does.

“Very many South African politicians would fall apart if interviewed by Andrew Neil on the Sunday Politics (television show), for instance.”

There is a big age gap in terms of how established the UK is as a democracy compared to SA.

We just turned 21 the other day but there are striking similarities between SA and the UK in terms of the so-called bread and butter issues that typify an election.

“The big issues in the UK right now are the economy, each party’s fiscal plans, the health system, immigration and the more existential question of the unity of the United Kingdom and its membership of the European Union.

“The big questions in the election are: first, how we go about deficit reduction – the balance between cuts to public services, cuts to welfare and tax increases – and the pace at which deficit reduction should occur; and second, funding and policy for key public services like the National Health Service and schools.

“Underlying all of this is an ongoing debate about who will work with whom to form a government in the event of a hung parliament, and what the nature of the deal will be.”

In respect of the prospect of a hung parliament, Coetzee doesn’t expect the Lib Dems to make earth-shattering gains in the elections. But he does anticipate a few surprises and says the party is open to coalitions with either the Tories or Labour after the election.

The result of the election may create a new opportunity for Coetzee. But it is his trait of being forthright that landed him one of the plum positions in British political circles.

“I got offered my current job on the back of some advice I sent to Jonny Oates, Nick’s Chief of Staff, after a trip to the UK.

“Jonny is an old friend of mine so I felt able to send him some thoughts, fairly bluntly expressed.

“Unbeknown to me, he shared the e-mail with Nick, and the rest is history.

“I have no idea what’s next for me. If we get back into government that might create an opportunity. Otherwise, I will find a new project to occupy myself. But that’s for after the election. Right now, I am focused on the 7th of May.”

While always forthright, Coetzee will not be drawn on questions posed on the DA’s leadership race (Mmusi or Wilmot?) or the party’s current strategy.

He says it would be unfair to comment because he is too far away and very much involved in the strategy of the Lib Dems.

Skilful!

But he did have this to say about the live TV debate during which contender for the DA’s top post, Wilmot James, challenged the favourite, Mmusi Maimane.

“If there’s a public leadership debate between the DA’s two candidates for leader then that is a very good thing indeed. The public should definitely be able to hear the views of, and assess, the people who become party leaders so they can make a more informed choice at election time.

“Politicians in SA, and especially in the ANC, are not open enough to scrutiny.

“In the UK every night and especially on the Sunday news programmes, MPs and ministers face a grilling on TV.

“The good ones thrive. The bad ones are quickly exposed. The net effect is that politicians are held to account and the public is informed. What could be bad about that?”

Coetzee says it’s very important for someone like him to be anything but a “yes” man. That would be potentially fatal for the party and he has been fortunate to work for three “very different people” who recognised that.

“Nick, Helen and Tony are all very different people, but they have similarities: they are all intelligent, hard working, resilient and brave. I have had a different relationship with each of them, but all of those relationships have been productive and, I like to think, have provided both the Liberal Democrats and the Democratic Alliance with a coherent strategy.

“I think it’s fair to say that I never treated either Tony or Helen as my ‘boss’, which, I suspect, delighted and frustrated them in equal measure.

“It is actually to their credit that they both kept me around for so long, but then who wants a strategist that simply agrees with you the whole time? I like to think that I had a good relationship with both of them and that together we took the party’s cause forward.

“They could both be difficult, of course, but no more difficult than I could be.”

Away from politics, Coetzee has enjoyed living in London but thanks to his work he has seen parts of Britain the ordinary traveller wouldn’t usually see.

“I have loved living in London from the moment I got here. It’s big, diverse, full of energy and there’s lots to do. But the rest of Britain is also great.

“It turns out the Liberal Democrats get elected in very beautiful places. (I am still trying to work out the exact electoral significance of this correlation.) It is indeed a ‘green and pleasant land’. I have also found the British to be warm and friendly, contrary to some stereotypes of them.”

You would expect being under the microscope of some of the world’s meanest tabloids – such as The Sun, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail– Coetzee would have a tale of a particularly embarrassing political clanger from the UK.

But for Coetzee – and he points out he had nothing to do with it – the most cringeworthy involved ladies underwear and our very own Daily Voice.

“UK politics provides endless (TV political comedy) Thick of It moments but nothing that can compete with the day (DA MP) Mike Waters conceived an event that involved stringing up thousands of panties – don’t ask! – between buildings somewhere on the Cape Flats.

“Unsurprisingly, the event didn’t go very well and even though I had nothing to do with it, I ended up in some paper’s daily cartoon wearing ladies underwear.”

* Gasant Abarder is editor of the Cape Argus.

Cape Argus

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