Crisis management is nothing new – but it has evolved. Each month, we’ll be delving into history and asking you to apply modern day communications wisdom to an olden day crisis:

Probably the most unpopular new tax in recent British history, but someone had to devise a way to sell the idea to the public. How would you have done it?

Helen Hall, GT Communications

Clearly Margaret Thatcher wasn’t the most ardent fan of that liberal-minded economist JK Galbraith. His aphorism that politics “consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable” holds as true today as it did then.

Let’s pretend the tax wasn’t a disastrous non-starter, but a policy that was merely unpalatable. There was far more that could have been done to bring the public round – in fact, although only 20 years ago, the government’s communication looks almost primitive.

Branding the tax as the ‘Community Charge’ was sensible. It carried with it the suggestion of taxpayers all in it together, united for the greater good. Equally, it was a reminder of where the money would go – to local services on which communities depend.

But the way it was sold to the public was hamfisted. It still seemed to be a directive from on high rather than an idea round which the community could rally. It did not help that Thatcher, close to the end of her period in office and losing popularity, chose to champion the Community Charge herself. She should have let others do the talking. By recruiting local, ‘ordinary’ people to explain why they thought the tax was fair, the Tories would have embedded their messages among the electorate. This collection of brand ambassadors would have been able to transmit the logic of the tax in a far more human way than via a party political broadcast or another few minutes of earnest soap-boxing on Question Time or Newsnight.

Thatcher should have concentrated on truly selling the idea to those in her party. Some were not enamoured with the Poll Tax and it showed. Perhaps if she’s secured proper buy-in from her party colleagues, her message would have been taken to the public with a little more gusto.”

Pete Cumberlidge, copywriter

Thatcher should have created a distraction, something to boost her standing in the polls and to deflect attention from domestic policy. Maybe she should have started a war? Oh, she did.”

Wayne Barlow, AU

Public Enemy said it best: ‘Don’t believe the hype’. Mrs Thatcher did, and became a public enemy herself.

She had a strong personal brand – ‘The Iron Lady – which had been hewn from her hard line on trade unions and the speedy reaction to the invasion of the Falklands. But by 1989, even though it had become a caricature, this was still an identity she thrived on. And it affected her judgement.

She allowed toughness to spill into bloodymindedness, if not pig-headedness, almost wilfully disregarding the sentiment of her electorate. And this was reflected in the almost non-existent communications drive in support of the tax.

Whether the tax was right or fair or sensible is not the issue. What was surprising, even then, was the half-heartedness with which she and her government made the case for its implementation. No wonder the public was unhappy. Thatcher, getting an almost unhealthy kick from standing her ground, was ditching dialogue and making a rod for her own back.

Today’s electorate – weary of spin – gets almost dewy-eyed at the memory of a leader who doesn’t dress up policy. But a refusal to engage with voters and ‘sell’ them her vision showed a lack of respect for those she represented. It led to her undoing.”

Next month: Napoleon. In 1812, with most of continental Europe under his control, Napoleon launched an invasion of Russia. But persuading almost 800,000 soldiers to brave fearsome elements on this a morale-sapping mission can’t have been easy. What communications advice would you have given? Email your advice to neil.gibbons@communicatemagazine.co.uk. There’s a bottle of champagne for the three that we publish.