Dr Alexandra Kelso, School of Social Sciences
Dr Alexandra Kelso
School of Social Sciences
A key part of the 2010 election will be the extent to which the parties seek to invoke the style and lessons of the 2008 Obama campaign, as part of a strategy to address the decline in political trust. The extensive use of the internet as a mobilising tool will pay real dividends in the UK in a close election, depending on whether the parties can effectively harness its power. It’s not entirely clear that they can. For one, none of the parties is headed by an inspirational or transformative leader in the likeness of Obama, and it was Obama himself who underpinned the message of change and hope which gave meaning to his ‘insurgent’ internet campaign. At the moment, it’s debatable whether the main parties in Britain are doing much beyond imposing traditional campaigning onto an electronic/internet format, and since a strategy such as Obama’s takes time to build and hone, we are unlikely to see much like it here in the coming weeks.
What might be of interest, though, is the growing role of political blogging and popular online comment, which has already upended traditional notions of campaigning in British politics. The treatment meted out to some Conservative campaign posters on mydavidcameron.com has already undermined the extent to which the parties can control the structure and strategy of an election campaign. The growing popularity of political bloggers on both left and right are increasingly altering the agenda-setting power of parties, a crucial tool during election campaigns. There is also much speculation that this will be the first election where the public, armed so extensively with camera phones and access to social networking sites, can be the first to reveal campaign gaffes, and with terrific speed too, further compromising the ability of parties to control their own campaigns. As the Westminster elite continue to reel from the public backlash engendered by the 2009 expenses scandal, most will be eager to avoid detonating their chances of being elected as a result of some unscripted moment in front of smartphone-wielding voters. Those with a real interest in how modern election campaigns are fought in Britain should watch out for these kinds of instances, and how they impact on the course of campaigns and on opinion polls as the election draws closer.
