Parliament must change from ‘broadcast' mode - March 1, 2010

Young voters demand more two-way communication

A  Hansard Society report - Parliament 2020: visioning the future Parliament - asking first-time voters, parliamentarians and parliament officials about their visions for a future Parliament found that all groups wanted to see Parliament using new technologies to more actively engage with citizens.

The top priorities for all three groups (first-time voters, parliamentary officials and MPs and Peers) were:

• Greater use of new technologies
• Interactive communication

The main concern of MPs and Peers was the modernisation of procedures in Parliament, and while parliamentary officials, MPs and Peers prioritised access to information, first-time voters prioritised:

• Education and outreach
• Transparency and accountability
• Diversity of representatives

In the wake of the recent expenses scandals, this report follows a sea-change in British politics where the whole political system is now subject to a level of interest and scrutiny not seen before and this includes the inner workings of Parliament. The research consisted of focus group discussions with three key stakeholders: first-time voters, parliamentary officials and MPs and Peers. The groups were asked to focus on how Parliament works and to think about what a Parliament of the future might look like and how new digital media will affect and influence the way that citizens engage and communicate with Parliament and MPs.

First-time voters want Parliament to engage with them through activities such as MPs visiting schools or through popular websites and social networks. They want to better relate to their representatives, identifying with them as members of their community and part of a more diverse Parliament. They wanted to feel that their MP was ‘real' and practised what they preached and they wanted to build trust in their MPs by increasing the links between MPs and their constituents, as well as improving transparency and accountability.

Parliamentary officials, MPs and Peers prioritised informing the public but focused less on engaging in two-way communication. MPs and Peers were more interested in modernising procedures and using new technology to make parliamentary processes more efficient and understandable for those both within and without parliament.

Andy Williamson, Director of the Hansard Society eDemocracy Programme and joint author of Parliament 2020: visioning the Future Parliament, commented: ‘There is a clear divide between the internal groups of MPs, Peers and parliamentary officials and the group of first-time voters.  Both the internal groups were more interested in informing the public as opposed to two-way communication. While utilising new technology to modernise procedures is long overdue, there is a danger that if Parliament remains in ‘broadcast' mode it will alienate first-time voters who demand more engagement, transparency and accountability.'

The report includes 21 recommendations to refine and improve how Parliament communicates and engages with the public, the technology and information that support this work and the procedures around how Parliament works.

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.
• 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.