In February referendum fever saw government ministers make 55 broadcast appearances, in March Downing Street entered bunker mode and the number plunged to just 35. The statistics show Craig Oliver is enforcing a “one minister a day” policy for broadcast appearances as they look to dodge accountability. Viewers are repeatedly being told the government refused to put anyone up for interview.

You know it’s a been a tough month for Downing Street when “Fireman” Fallon tops the charts. Fallon is always deployed by No. 10 as a safe pair of hands when things are not going well, and in a month of Tory splits and Budget flops he made four appearances. Nicky Morgan is – inexplicably – being used with increasing regularity. ‘Super’ Soubry remains high up the list as a Remain spokesman, while Grayling is once again leading the charge for Leave. The highly ambitious Dominic Raab, another Outer, is an interesting new entry. The submarine Chancellor’s Budget went so well he faced interview questions just twice this month… 

Here is the spreadsheet with all the ministerial broadcast appearances for March. The rules: we monitor which ministers appeared answering questions in interviews. Note this will not include doorsteps, only scheduled appearances.