Lib Dem MPs more likely to use Twitter - October 22, 2009
A new Digital Paper from the Hansard Society - Twitter: Communication tool or pointless vanity? - shows that a higher percentage of Liberal Democrat MPs use Twitter compared to the other political parties:
Twitter has emerged as an important tool in digital politics - in December 2008, it was used by just two MPs whereas today 79 MPs across the parties use it. The figures are higher for prospective parliamentary candidates across the main parties with a total of 118 using Twitter as a communication tool.
The usefulness of Twitter as a communication tool for politicians was discussed at a Hansard Society meeting in Westminster attended by Iain Dale, Kerry McCarthy MP, Jo Swinson MP and Andrew Walker from Tweetminster. The meeting addressed the make-up of Parliament 2010 and the new intake of ‘techno-savvy' MPs. Iain Dale predicted that this new technology will enable MPs to question parliamentary authorities and ‘force change'.
Andy Williamson, Director of the Hansard Society eDemocracy Programme, and author of Twitter: Communication tool or pointless vanity? concludes in his report: ‘Twitter has the potential to become a bridge between citizens and their elected representatives. However, this potential is not always exploited by the MPs who use it. In Twitter, those who have always aimed to engage the public in constructive discussion will find a new space and a valuable new tool, but it's not the ‘killer app' of digital politics and unlikely of itself to transform the political landscape.'
For further information, contact Virginia Gibbons, Head of Communications at the Hansard Society on 020 7438 1225 or mediaprog@hansard.lse.ac.uk
Editors' Notes
- The Hansard Society is the UK's leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity.
- Twitter: Communication tool or pointless vanity? is the second in an occasional series of short Digital Papers from the Hansard Society eDemocracy Programme.
- The Hansard Society eDemocracy Programme's thought-leading research has been a formative part of an emergent digital Britain from the internet's impact on Parliament, to better government engagement with citizens and the potential for civil society to harness digital media. The eDemocracy Programme undertakes research and produces publications and commentaries with a focus on online political communication and citizen engagement, exploring the many faces of digital inclusion, citizen engagement, political campaigning and parliamentary process.