Last Word: How to Interview Politicians
| Author | Philip Cowley |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058211001004 |
40 POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2021
To misquote that famous line from
Casablanca, politicians are like
normal people, only more so.
They pose especial problems for
the interviewer. They are not easy to get to
meet and, once you have met them, they
are not easy to get stuff out of. Here are a
dozen tips on how to get the best out of an
interview with a politician; all are things I’ve
learnt the hard way:
1. Abandon your preconceptions. Some of
those who you have always thought of
as horrible when you have seen them
on TV, will turn out to be charming;
some of those you have thought of as
your political heroes will turn out to
be ghastly. Neither has any bearing on
whether they will be useful. Approach
them all the same anyway.
2. Be on time. When scheduling, try to
leave gaps between interviews and
remember to include enough time to
get from place A to place B, through
any security (which at Westminster
is extensive), and so on. If you realise
you are running really late, then phone
ahead and postpone an interview or
two to get things back on track. No
MP will be devastated to discover they
have a free half hour in their diary –
and you can always rearrange.
3. Be prepared. Don't waste their
time or yours with stuff you should
already know or could find out from
elsewhere. There are horror stories of
MPs granting interviews, only to be
asked what party they are in. At best,
this results in them wasting your time
telling you something you should
already know; at worst, it derails the
whole thing. Rather, go out of your
way to show that you know your stuff.
For your first actual question, ask
something that shows the extent of
your knowledge; this is the equivalent
of the old football adage that you
should go in hard with your first tackle,
just to let people know you're not
messing about. This helps reassure
the MP that they are not wasting their
time with you. It also allows them to
pitch their answer at the right level;
otherwise, you may get the very
general school tour answer.
4. Think carefully about the order of the
questions you want to ask. You may
not have long (however long you
were promised, you will probably get
less), so cut to the chase and ask the
more important stuff relatively early.
One caveat: leave anything that might
provoke a row towards the end – in
case it results in the interview being
terminated.
5. At the same time, be prepared to fly
by the seat of your pants. The methods
textbooks talk about semi-structured
interviews; interviews with politicians
are often better described as barely
structured. Be ready to improvise.
Don’t insist on working your way
through your questions regardless. You
will need to adapt.
6. Avoid jargon. Talk to the MP in
a language they would use, not
the language in which you might
eventually write the article.
7. A little bit of flattery goes a long way.
People like being told how good
they are (‘I thought your speech on
second reading was really impressive’
– a statement which has the merit of
both demonstrating knowledge and
sucking up a bit).
8. Let them talk. When it comes to
interviewing MPs, monosyllabic
answers are unlikely to be a problem.
In his book, Working, the great Robert
Caro says that he frequently writes SU
in his notebook while interviewing. It
is a reminder to himself to ‘Shut Up’,
and let his subjects talk. The result may
occasionally be a bit rambling, but
it will usually end up more revealing
than if you try to interrupt all the time.
9. Seek clarification, but don't argue.
You may well think the person you are
interviewing is talking total nonsense.
If so, the correct response is to say:
‘that's fascinating, do tell me more’.
Occasionally, a ‘some people might
say …’ question will work, just to see
how they might respond to counter
arguments, but you are not there to
argue with them.
10. Look interested, but never too excited.
Someone may let slip something they
weren't intending to say. Look as if you
have heard it all before. If they realise
what they have done, they may decide
they don't want you to use it.
11. Have a question or two in reserve. Your
interviewee may well walk you to the
exit. Use this time to ask something extra
that you can drop in on the way out.
12. Say thank you, both at the time and
afterwards. It also does no harm to
thank those – like the MP’s assistants
or secretaries – who've helped to
actually organise the interview. And, if
possible, share any eventual outputs
that come out of the interviews. They
will not have the time to read them,
but that's not the point; the point is to
show people that they didn't give up
their time completely in vain.
Your first reaction on reading this may well
have been to think that it just so obvious –
or prosaic. But you'd be amazed how many
people don't do it.
Philip Cowley is Professor of Politics at
Queen Mary University of London. This
piece is taken from ‘Interviewing MPs’,
which also contains advice on how to get
access in the first place and what to do
with what you are told. Available at SSRN
(https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.
cfm?abstract_id=3764202).
Last Word
How to Interview
Politicians
Philip Cowley shares his dos and don’ts of political interviews.
Political Insight March 2021.indd 40Political Insight March 2021.indd 40 15/02/2021 14:2915/02/2021 14:29
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