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The media forms a vitally important link between leaders of political parties and the electorates of European states and this essay investigates shows how relationships between the media and political leaders differ. It considers: differing media set-ups, media styles favoured by voters varying and the methods which politicians use to communicate with the electorate varying “A leader’s legitimacy depends as much upon his or her ability to communicate via television as upon the electoral system” (Drake & Gaffney 1996: p22). state to state. Within the sphere of television, one of the favoured methods of reaching the electorate, the set-up of the broadcasting companies can be of great significance with Semetko suggesting that “the more ‘pure-public’ the broadcasting system, the more likely it is that government or political parties exert influence” (Semetko 1996: 258) over the media, with the opposite being the case for more ‘pure-commercial’ systems. This is not always the case, however, as in Germany “there are advisory boards for the two public service channels in which political parties participate” but, in “France, Greece and Spain, however, the party in power appoints the key people…and many of t