Coronavirus: Why Boris Johnson is announcing lockdown changes in a TV address

Andrew Grice looks at how a televised message plays into the prime minister’s hands

Johnson announces a nationwide lockdown from No 10 on 23 March (PA)

Traditionally, Boris Johnson would have made his announcement on the future of the lockdown in parliament. But there were several reasons why it suited him to make a televised address to the nation at 7pm on Sunday.

The virtual House of Commons is sitting only from Monday to Wednesday. There could have been a special sitting last Thursday, when the previous three-week lockdown came up for renewal. But waiting until Sunday allowed the cabinet to get the most up-to-date data from its scientific advisers before making a final decision on relaxing some restrictions or setting out a timeline under which they might be lifted.

Johnson could have made his announcement at the daily Downing Street press conference at 4pm on Sunday, but that would have meant facing questions from journalists and the TV audience would have been smaller. Giving it straight to camera improves his chances of delivering a precise message, reducing the prospect of it becoming fuzzy under questioning.