The Unfair Blair Affair; the best and worst ways of denying a sex scandal

Rumours of the identities of those who conducted a secret affair at the heart of Downing Street continue to swirl online after the Daily Mail set hares running and tongues wagging during June. It was a hectic month for political scandal and innuendo, with Silvio Berlusconi, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson and even Christine Keeler’s names to the fore in the media. The Drum takes a look at the complex relationship between politicians, the media and minefield that needs to be navigated between credibility and deniability when a sex scandal breaks.

The New York magazine ran what is already turning out to be a classic headline in mid June after the office of Tony Blair issued a curt statement to the Hollywood Reporter, which had enquired whether an affair between Blair and Rupert Murdoch’s wife Wendi Deng had led to the pair’s surprise divorce.“Tony Blair Is Not Currently Sleeping With Rupert Murdoch’s Wife, He Says,” the headline ran, arguably taking the loosest possible interpretation of the statement given to them.The wording of the actual question put to Tony Blair’s office by the Hollywood Reporter is not known, but it elicited this response: "If you are asking if they are having an affair, the answer is no.” The use of the present tense seems to have opened the door for the broad interpretation applied by the New York magazine. But how did Tony Blair, a man whose singular historical legacy - other than Iraq - is giving politics the ability to feed, manage, abuse and manipulate the press, end up handling such a straightforward press statement so bafflingly poorly, providing such a gift to headline writers and gossipmongers? A lesson seems to have been sharply and swiftly learned at Blair HQ. When The Drum approached Blair‘s office for comment today, we were told more definitively: “The rumours aren’t true and have never been true,” a statement that, had it been given initially to the Hollywood Reporter, would have killed off any room for interpretation, and put the rumours to bed immediately before they gained traction in the press and online.Blair perhaps may be the most well practiced spin-meister and media manager in the political arena over the last generation, but he is not the first politician to feed ammunition to headline writers with a poorly worded response to an unexpected question.John Profumo denies affair with Christine Keeler: "There was no impropriety whatever in my acquaintance with Miss Keeler." 22 March 1963.The grandfather of sex scandals opened with Secretary of State for War John Profumo’s statement to the House of Commons, the value of which depended entirely upon your own subjective interpretation of what is or is not improper. In June 2013 Keeler said that she did in fact pass details about missile movements to Soviet agents during the height of the cold war. Profumo resigned and the Government fell. Clinton denies affair with Lewinsky - "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." January 26 1998 - Bill Clinton was as renowned for his powers of persuasion and advocacy as he was for his extra-marital virility. When he stared down a roomful of journalists and the world TV audience, wagging his finger in defiance, he left absolutely no room for misinterpretation. In August that year he admitted he did in fact have sexual relations with that woman, but saw off impeachment to complete two full terms as President.Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster: "Mrs Clinton's office refused to comment." August 4 1999. - Just prior to her run for the Senate representing New York, author, Christopher Andersen‘s book "Bill and Hillary: The Marriage" alleged that Hillary Clinton embarked on an affair with colleague Vince Foster in 1977. Foster was linked to the Whitewater property scandal, and died of a apparent suicide in 1993. Mrs Clinton has never commented further.William Hague and Christopher Myers: "I have made no secret of the fact that Ffion and I would love to start a family." 2 September 2010 - Rumours of William Hague’s sexuality had dogged him for many years, and came to a head when it was revealed that he had shared a hotel room with a male staffer during the Conservative Party conference. Hague’s statement in explanation met with rare shock in media circles for the extent to which it detailed Hague’s sexual relations with his wife, and disclosed for the first time details of several miscarried pregnancies that had remained private. The lad doth protest too much for some. Boris Johnson and Helen McIntyre: May 2013What the court described as a “brief adulterous affair” resulted in the birth of a daughter for the Mayor of London and his paramour, which Johnson fought to conceal via the courts. However, the appeal court ruled in May 2013 that the public had a right to know, and Boris’s secret was laid bare.Silvio Berlusconi denies affair with 17 year old. “'Absolutely not. I am aware that, if this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later." - 28 May 2009 Even within Italian politics and a culture where male infidelity is tacitly tolerated, Silvio Berlusconi set new standards in his cavalier attitude to both. His carefully worded denial of a sexual relationship with a minor was of course not given under oath and could not be described as perjury. Last week, Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in jail for paying for sex with an underage prostitute.Gareth Evans lies to Parliament over affair with opposition's Cheryl Kernot. "It was precisely to avoid that and protect my marriage that I said what I did in Parliament'.In 1998 Gareth Evans lied to the Australian Parliament about an affair with Cheryl Kernot, a relationship with explosive consequences given that he was leader of the government in the Senate, and she was leader of the Democrats in opposition. Questions remained about whether the relationship impacted on deals brokered between the two parties in passing legislation through the Senate, or whether it influenced Kernot's later decision to defect to Labor in 1997. Evans admitted the affair in 2002.John Major keeps Edwina Currie affair a secret. "It is the one event in my life of which I am most ashamed and I have long feared would be made public." 28 September 2002 - John Major surprised and shocked the political world when it was revealed that the grey man of politics had a more torrid side, and had in fact been participating in an extra-marital affair with outspoken rebel Edwina Currie. It turned out in fact that John Major wasn’t just grey, he was fifty shades of it, and proved that sometimes saying nothing at all can work.