Party Games on the Web
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Pre-election fever is highlighting ever more regularly just how the parties want to be seen, and which policies they are hoping to showcase. It couldn’t come at a better time for any teachers and students about to labour through (sorry!) the ‘parties’ topic in the AS specification. Election year is putting the parties uppermost in terms of media profile. And there are some excellent sites to give that extra feel for party policy, membership and internal debate. These are not the official party sites, useful though they may be, but the burgeoning ‘unofficial’ sites like Conservative Home.
A site like Conservative Home, or the more recently created Labour List, can provide an invaluable insight into the real state of debate within the parties. Unlike the official party sites, these are not moderated by party officials, but have been set up independently to provide a forum for party leaders and followers to come together. Conservative Home is the more venerable, and arguably more sophisticated, of these websites. Edited by former Iain Duncan Smith chief of staff Tim Montgomerie, and originally bankrolled by former Jeffrey Archer aide Stefan Shakespeare (also owner of Yougov), the site is an absolute goldmine of useful, continually updated information. Party grandees regularly write for the site, while Montgomery and his deputy Jonathan Isaby have a superb list of contacts (Montgomery is considered one of the most influential Tories around outside the Cameron inner circle). And yet the site really thrives on being an ‘independent’ conservative voice, unshackled by party rules or strictures. The comments thread on any given piece reveals much that should give David Cameron pause for thought – many of his members are following his change agenda only reluctantly. The editorial line is also far from slavish in its attitude to the party leadership, propounding core values, possible policies, and even nominating 100 peers for the party to create should it gain office.
By comparison with Conservative Home, Labour List is still finding its way a little. It was controversially set up by former Mandelson spin deputy Derek Draper, but has since come under the steadier leadership of Alex Deane, who is doubtless hoping to acquire the same sort of status within the Labour Party as Montgomery has amongst the Tories. It still veers more to the Labour leadership than perhaps many would like, but like its Conservative counterpart it does offer an authentic Labour voice in its comments on the many different stories published on the site.
So, once we’ve given the official part sites the once over, these two power players of the political internet provide us with a fantastic fund of insightful information with which to pepper our party studies. Whether it’s on policy, or the nature of party democracy, Conservative Home and Labour List will have an angle to use.
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