The digital campaign is still in its infancy, says Hansard Society - March 30, 2010

Politicians Get Their Clicks

A new Digital Paper, Politicians Get Their Clicks, published today by the Hansard Society, concludes that the 2010 general election will not be the much heralded first ‘internet election'. Rather, the role of digital media will be as an invaluable tool to support effective on-the-ground communication and campaigning.

The report examines the model of the Obama internet campaign and points out the critical differences between the US and the UK elections - the amount of money donated online in the US is significantly greater and the focus on an individual is critical. Politicians Get Their Clicks argues that digital developments in elections in Commonwealth countries are more relevant in predicting what we might see in the UK 2010 general election.

• Canada has developed election digital initiatives since 2000. With the rise of social media and the emergence of citizen-led initiatives, the 2008 campaigns built on the centralised products from earlier elections, but campaigns were limited by budgets putting pressure on political parties to co-ordinate online campaigns or provide templates for use by local candidates.
• New Zealand saw a significant growth in the use of candidate blogs and social media in the 2008 general election, building on the previous largely party-driven pattern. An interesting lesson for the UK is the demise of many of the innovative digital channels post-election. Even where candidates were successful, social networks have not necessarily been maintained as tools to communicate and engage with constituents.
• Australia also witnessed a rise in internet-based campaigning websites and during the 2007 federal elections candidates harnessed social networking and video-sharing sites.  Here, web strategies were not confined to the immediate election period and since becoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has continued to use his online presence to keep the electorate aware of political developments.

In the UK, the digital campaign landscape falls into two areas: the public-facing use of digital media and its internal use by the parties. In addition, social media will play an important role, less directly for the wider public and more for the political and media classes. Politicians Get Their Clicks concludes that we will not see the digital razzmatazz witnessed in the US, but we will see digital media cementing its place as an invaluable tool to support effective on-the-ground communication and campaigning.

Dr Andy Williamson, Director of the Hansard Society's Digital Democracy Programme and author of the report, commented:

‘In terms of online campaigns, Britain is a follower and not a leader, and has far less in common with the United States than it does with Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. What will be important is how the election winners handle the transformation to online campaigning to online government.'

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.
• Politicians Get Their Clicks is the third in an occasional series of short Digital Papers from the Hansard Society Digital Democracy Programme.
• The Hansard Society  Digital Democracy 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 Digital Democracy 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.