The Tweetminster website, which monitors UK political activity on social networking site Twitter, has produced an interesting report which details how politicians and aspiring politicians of each party are connecting with the audience on Twitter.
It is a bit of a crude tool, as there’s no way of knowing whether the references to each politician are positive or negative; Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy tops the charts by some considerable distance, but she very much has the “marmite factor” with multiple references to her by both strident supporters and opponents.
Nonetheless, as a broad measure it works, so it is pleasing to see that I’ve made the top 20 lists of Prospective MPs – ranked the fifth most “retweeted” candidate and the eleventh most mentioned candidate in the UK. Thanks to everyone who follows my Twitter posts – @cllrilindley.
Now I’m not going to make a song and dance about social networking, but I’ve always believed that politicians should be as accessible as possible. As a Councillor and now Prospective MP I have always tried to use as many methods as possible to keep local residents informed of my views and of the work I’m doing on their behalf – be that through sites like Twitter, through this website, or through the time-honoured methods of leafleting and knocking on doors!
You can now become a supporter of my campaign on Facebook.
It is a huge honour to be the Prospective Conservative MP for Worsley and Eccles South. I grew up and live locally in Walkden, and I share the frustration felt by local residents who have been let down and taken for granted by Labour.
Local residents need and deserve a fresh start – we cannot afford another five years of Gordon Brown. I would be delighted to have your support – I will not let you down.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were seeing in the year 2000, and here we are at the end of another decade!
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy new year – best wishes for an enjoyable and successful 2010. I think it is going to be a good year!
I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish all local residents and all visitors to this website a very happy Christmas. I hope that you have a lovely and enjoyable day.
Blogging will be light over Christmas but regular readers can rest assured that I’ll be back after Boxing Day.
Merry Christmas!
Just a quick reminder that in addition to this website, you can also:
Just a quick note to say that my campaign now has a gallery on Flickr. Early days yet but in time you’ll see a comprehensive gallery of photographs showing how your local Conservative team are working hard for local people across the Worsley & Eccles South constituency – and indeed across the whole of Salford.
Occasionally, someone comes along and asks why I run this website, or (more recently) why I bother with Twitter. In the past, I’ve also been criticised by Labour Councillors for spending time on this blog, although opposition Councillors and activists seem to spend more time reading this site than I ever do writing to it! So I thought I’d set the record straight.
I think blogging is a good thing, and more Councillors and politicians should do it. I act as a representative on behalf of the local residents in my ward and I also have a wider responsibility to the City of Salford as a whole. It is – unquestionably – a good thing that they are able to see what I do on their behalf, and what I think about local and national issues that affect them. I also hope this site is of benefit to the local people to whom I aspire to represent as a Prospective MP. They can see what I do, how hard I work, and more than a flavour of who I am and what I think.
I do not spend hours slaving away writing this blog. It takes a matter of minutes to update the website (in most cases) and to update Twitter takes a matter of seconds. It does not interfere with anything else I do and other responsibilities I have – indeed it enhances them considerably.
It is part of my job to keep residents informed of local events and local issues that affect them. This website is part of that. It is a shame that some opposition activists actually think it is a bad thing to communicate with the people who have elected me to represent them.
Iain Dale has today posted the list of the top 100 Conservative blogs, according to those who voted in the Total Politics Blog Awards for 2009.
This year this website comes in at #51, which I’m very pleased with. Thanks again to everyone who voted in the Total Politics poll, and particularly of course those people who were kind enough to vote for me. Ta!
According to the Total Politics poll, you are currently reading the 14th most popular Councillor blog in the country. Find out more by clicking here.
Thanks to those of you who voted in the poll and gave your support to this blog. Cheers!
There’s just two days left to vote in the Total Politics Blog Poll 2009. It would be an honour for this website to get your support! Here’s how you vote…
1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
2. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
3. Only vote once.
4. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents or based on UK politics are eligible.
5. Anonymous votes will not count. You must give a name
6. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.
I’m still mulling over my own top ten. It would be great if you could include my blog in your countdown…
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