UK Election Online Post Mortem
UK candidates fail to harness Internet, while news media thrives.

High Hopes For The Internet
Online advocates (including PoliticsOnline) had high hope that the internet would revolutionize the UK elections in 2005. Having witnessed the successes and failures of the 2004 elections in the United States, the UK now had a plethora of tools and tactics to garner support and get voters to the polls. And because UK candidates basically have one month to campaign, it seemed that the rapid response and efficiency of the web would certainly be utilized.

Sri Carmichael of The Guardian captured the enthusiasm of many at the onset of the elections writing, "the UK is embarking on its first internet election, and in many ways the battleground is cyberspace can be more significant than disaffected council estates in Cardiff Central or Enfield North."

The enthusiasm seemed justified when an online pre-election poll showed bad news for the favored Prime Minister Tony Blair. Nearly 25,000 voters participated in One Big Vote in early April, which predicted a victory for Conservative Party leader Michael Howard. It appeared that online activists were once again working to overturn the status quo. Howard's only realy victory was his Party's website claimed more traffic than Labour.

Big Vote Was No Big Deal
The One Big Vote pre-election poll was not unlike MoveOn.org's online vote to select a democratic Nominee in June of 2003. Although no candidate won by a clear majority MoveOn.org's support, Howard Dean received a major boost in the online world by coming out on top. Both votes were early attempts to show the power of the internet to create momentum for a candidate, though both failed to do so in the end. However, by Election Day it was apparent that the internet hype would have little to do with the outcome. Quite simply the internet failed to be an effective tool for gathering support and getting votes. In retrospect the internet flop wasn't necessarily because UK campaigners failed to use proper tools in the online arsenal, it's more likely that they just failed to have a candidate like Howard Dean.

A Great Website Doesn't Equal A Great Candidate
The former US Democratic Nominee brought energy to the 2004 Presidential race that was a perfect match for online campaigning and supporters. Dean taught pundits that an alternative candidate with internet savvy can be a great candidate, but a horrible candidate with top rate website is still a horrible candidate. UK candidates were far from horrible, but they weren't the poster children for the World Wide Web either.

Though, BBC Technology Analyst Bill Thompson argued contrary at the start of the campaign season, he was quick to point out afterwards that it "wasn't an 'e-election' in the sense that the Internet and online activities could be considered in isolation from other aspects of the campaign and media coverage."

However, there were some great leaps forward in online campaigning, as Thompson noted.

  • Party communications increased successfully through the use of email
  • Party Websites grew in richness and content
  • Blogs debated important issues over looked by mainstream media
  • Viral Websites were also effective at highlighting important issues

BBC And Online Media Wins
If there was an online winner this election season, it was the election news coverage. A number of news websites provided unprecedented information and interactivity, which hands-down topped the UK's 2001 online coverage, and was better in many ways than what US media attempted during the 2004 elections.

As one might expect the BBC, raised the bar for how elections should be covered online, however Channel 4, Silicon, and The Guardian also ranked very high for their online coverage.

As UK polling day drew near, wired voters searched in droves for the best election news and information. Lucky for them, online media had never been so comprehensive; and in the case of the BBC, so interactive.

The BBC kept good on its promise to deliver 'the first truly interactive election coverage' offering an imaginative and absorbing section, according to a review by Journalism.co.uk. An animated Peter Snow hosts a raft of interactive tools including a quiz, seat calculator, and poll tracker - while the real Peter Snow provides video instructions on how to use the interactive swingometer. The Beeb even staffed Alan Connor, as Daily Politics' internet correspondent, focused solely on providing e-Election news.

Visitors could share their views on dozens of important issues through the site's Have Your Say online debates. Blogs likewise played a larger role on the website this year, offering first-hand reports from around the country, as well as the best of the newspapers, web, and e-mails. And much of the BBC online coverage is available via email, RSS feeds, and mobile/PDA's.

A 3G voter's panel was an especially interactive feature, giving a taste of the future convergence of technology and reporting in elections. Throughout the election campaign the BBC asked a panel of 20 voters to share their views in text and in video, using 3G mobile phones and video cameras. Their contributions were then posted to Election website for viewing and commentary.

The BBC was rewarded for the coverage, logging more than 45 million page impressions on the BBC News website's election section on 6 May, with more than 3 million people using the site to keep up to date with the latest developments.

If there was something missing from the BBC (which was very hard to find), it was the inability to keep the conversation flowing across all of its mediums. There was a significant amount of user comments and interaction such as with the voter panel, and Have Your Say features, but there was no way of bringing it all together.

The Guardian Unlimited also provide excellent coverage of the election, but should also be commended for stepping out ahead of other news websites by bolding asking for feedback on what viewers thought of their election coverage. They asked readers what worked, what didn't, and what should be done differently next time. To give the Guardian one more boost, the rise of the UK's 05 online campaigning enthusiasm can arguably be traced back to the US in October 2004. The Guardian launched 'Operation Clark County' hoping to influence voters in Ohio through a letter writing campaign.

Cyber Journalist cites just a small sampling of the interactivity available.

BBC's Peter Snow:

  • Desktop election alerts
  • Seat calculator
  • Interactive swingometer
  • Poll tracker
    BBC Radio 1: A fun mudslinging game
    Times Online: Flash game Quote Unquote asks users to match quotes with party leaders
    The Daily Mail: Live chats with politicians
    The Guardian: Interactive policy comparison tool
    The Guardian: Candidates' diaries
    Channel 4: FactCheck: Keeping politicians honest
    Channel 4: Eight election blogs
    Interactive election maps: The Guardian, Channel 4, Sky News and The Times
    And don't miss the BBC's click-and-zoom results map

    A comprehensive list of sites covering the elections can be found at the DoWire UK Directory

    How The UK Borrowed From The US
    The three largest Parties in the UK all used the internet in this campaign season, and much of it was wisely borrowed from the US.

    Conservatives Break Into The Vault
    Inspired by the Republican Party's successful use of direct marketing in last November's US election, the Conservatives relied more on direct-marketing-targeting techniques than in previous elections. Following a visit to the US to meet Republican Party officials, Dr Liam Fox, MP and co-chairman of the Conservative Party, borrowed a copy of the Republican's Voter Vault database software package, according to a source involved in the campaign. As Robin Grant noted, even the design of websites copied us election campaigns such as the Conservative Party borrowing much from GeorgeWBush.com.

    Labour Gets Gun For Hire
    For the Labour Party, American's once again didn't just offer advice on tools, but volunteered their services. Americans took polls, conducted focus groups and helped refine the Labour message according to the Washington Post. The outside helped turned into a little bit of controversy when the Labour Party announced it hired Zack Exley, former internet strategist for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

    Liberal Democrats Glide On Cutting Edge
    The Liberal Democrats had the most to gain and campaigned on the cutting edge of technology. The Party started podcasting as a way of spreading their electoral message. The podcast's were made available through the party's blog (http://www.kennedycampaign.org/). Liberals pushed their anti-Iraq war stance with a mobile, viral game that gives players the chance to suggest alternative ways of using the £5bn the Labour Government spent on the war. They also imitated the online advertising strategies of Liberal groups in the U.S., which by the way raised 60 percent of their funds online.

    New Flashy Websites And Emails Worked…Sort Of
    In the US election campaign emails became the life blood of communications. For the first time in presidential history, people on the ground level could receive direct communication in such a way that personally and quickly brought them into the campaign. While most UK Parties significantly enhance their communications, either the short or election season or apathy failed to grow beyond supporters who were already engaged.

    Swingers Revive Tactical Voting
    Tactical voting has been a lot like teenage sex. There's always an awful a lot of talk about it, but nothing ever really happens. However advocates in the UK were certain that this time around would be different. Early projections for the 2005 poll estimated that that up to 20% of the UK might vote tactically, trying to unseat an MP, or even swapping votes in marginals. In the end, the vote swapping sites had little or no impact much like the vote paring website (http://www.votepair.org/statistics.php) during the 2004 US elections.

    Blog Breakout
    The UK election witnessed an explosion of blogs, from candidates to journalists to the just plain weird. Richard Kimber of Keele University created a webpage of hundreds of websites and blogs following the UK election.

    The main blog issues ranged from the economy, taxation, asylum, immigration, Iraq, public services and to perhaps most crucially, the character and personality of each of the three political contenders. The blogs provided plenty of content but it's too early to predict the election served as a breakthrough for the most popular sites.

    Don't Blame Lack Of Internet Access
    One argument is that the US election was impacted more new technology because over 68 percent of homes have internet access. In the UK 58 percent have access. While there is no denying the numbers, what is equally important is the use of mobile phones in the UK. Also text messaging is a relatively new way of communicating in the US. However, there are now more cell phones than people in the UK, where nearly 80 million text messages are sent each day. It's clear the technology is available in the UK, it's just has not been harnessed.

    Now What Do We Do With It?
    With the election over, political parties and e-advocates can now reflect on what just took place and prepare for the next time around. After it's all been said and done, it have might be helpful to listen to the wise words of Stephen Coleman, a professor at Oxford University's Internet Institute and an expert on the use of the Web in elections. Coleman said early on, "I think it would be a mistake to assume that the Web has become a significant campaigning tool either at the national level or at the constituency level of candidates. They have a fairly symbolic value. You need to be seen to have one, but [the UK parties] are not quite sure what to do with them."

    If we could just add one word to Coleman's quote, it would be that Parties are not quite sure what to do with them…"yet."

    Publisher's Note: The BBC has been a client of PoliticsOnline for years, which could distort our objectivity. But hey, compare for yourself and then try to tell us it's not great.