Entering ‘Politicians are…’ into the Google search bar brings predictable results. Well, mostly. In amongst ‘liars’, ‘scum’ and ‘all the same’, Google suggests ‘lizards’: David Icke’s reptilian illuminati are still in the spotlight. Number five on the list is predictable: politicians are ‘out of touch’.
Minding the gap has been central to British politics for years. Politicians, the line goes, are out of touch with reality, and, to make things worse, spend their whole time in Westminster, only visiting their constituencies to try to hang onto the seat. Yet some canny MPs are beginning to change this impression.
This is the first general election where social media will be truly pervasive. In 2009, less than half of internet users of the voting age used social media, falling to less than a quarter over fifty. In 2015, nearly three-quarters of internet users are also social media users. Significantly, the greatest increase has been among users aged 65 or higher. 50 per cent of this age group now use social media – a figure that is four times higher than it was five years ago.
Whether they have joined of their own accord or been dragged, kicking and screaming, politicians have joined them. 77 per cent of MPs are currently on Twitter, with most tweeting every day. Inevitably this leads to abuse. Cameron, Clegg, Miliband, Farage: as figureheads they receive thousands of pieces of abuse every day. Cameron gets about 200 insults a day. Every tweet sent by Ed Miliband is like a starting gun in a race to see who can call him Beaker first.
But politics on Twitter is not dominated by the trolls, however much the politicians wish it were. Once you move away from the cacophony of abuse hurled at the front benches for their misplaced hashtags and sanctimonious tweets, there is a much calmer, quieter conversation happening behind them.
Take, for instance, James Wharton, Conservative MP for Stockton South. Followed by just over five thousand people, his Twitter feed has a very different feel to that of Ed Miliband or David Cameron. Where Cameron’s account broadcasts the party line, bellowing good news and ironclad promises, Wharton’s feed is a quieter, responsive voice that looks to engage with his constituents. Every statement projected by Miliband’s account is jeered and mocked, treated as an invitation to hurl some more abuse at him. Wharton’s replies tend to be inquiring, constructively critical or just plain nice.
Take a look at this thread, for example. A Stockton constituent, unhappy that a local taxi company was parking in disabled bays, took to Twitter for answers. Wharton (and others) immediately offered to look into the matter.
The constituent concludes the thread, evidently satisfied: ‘one of those occasions when you realise twitter is not just a rant into the chasm #PeopleListening’.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of other examples on Wharton’s feed of how Twitter (and other digital platforms) can be a powerful tool in bringing us closer to those we elect to represent us. Questions are answered, promises are made and critics are engaged in discussion. Twitter is not a broadcast medium and the MPs doing best on social media understand this.
Whether social media will play a significant role in this general election will continue to be debated, and we may only know after 7 May. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Twitter gaffe might swing a seat here or there. But social media does have an important role to play in bridging the ever-widening gap between MPs and their constituents. By joining a social network, MPs put themselves a few clicks away. This can only be a positive thing for politics. If you are fortunate enough to have an MP brave enough to use Twitter (and not just to push the party line), you may find them to be a little less ‘out of touch’ than previously thought.
Westminster council has announced that every single social housing tenant in the borough will receive lifetime tenancies. No test of need. No review of income. No incentive to move on. Once you’ve been awarded a property, you can stay as long as you like. When you die, your adult children may be eligible to inherit
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