ELECTION 2.0?

Don’t believe the hype

1. About us
Apex Communications has been advising corporate, public and
third sector clients on communications issues since 2005. Brought
together by commercial strategist Pete Bowyer and former
government adviser Ed Owen, Apex Communications helps
organisations influence opinions and shape reputations.

Carlo Gibbs is Head of Online Engagement at

Apex Communications

Get Elected is the only cross-party service that provides campaign

support to candidates seeking election political office. Formed in
2009, Get Elected has provided candidates with a range of
services, from constituency research, to web-design and speech
writing.

James Knight is Director of Get Elected

Kind thanks and acknowledgements to the wider Get Elected team,

in particular James Coady and Mark Staniland.
2. Introduction
The upcoming election is likely to be one of the tightest in recent years and the first time the nation has
gone to the polls since the explosion of social media. This report has assessed the online presence of
candidates across 100 key battleground and high profile seats.

We have reviewed and analysed the activity of candidates who we consider have a genuine chance of
winning their seat, and have looked at how prepared they are to campaign online for the election.
This included a review of websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Inevitably, the three major parties have been battling each other to gain the supremacy online and have
been developing some highly sophisticated software and online campaigning techniques. However, relatively
little has been assessed about how individual candidates are using online platforms to help enhance their
campaigns in constituencies across the UK.

Our research took place throughout February 2010 and has provided a thorough audit of presence and
activity levels online. The results clearly indicate that discussion surrounding the prominence and potential
impact of social media platforms is often both over-stated and exaggerated.
Summary of results
This election will not be decided online. While the use of social media by the national parties, the press and the
general public will have an impact on the election, our research shows there is little widespread and effective take
up of online campaigning by individual candidates across the country.

No party has yet managed to implement a consistent online strategy at candidate level, and we found very few
constituencies where one or other of the candidates is dominating in any noteworthy way.

Key conclusions
• Some candidates still have little or no online presence
Incredibly, there are a number of candidates in our sample that still have no online presence, including 10% that have
no personal website.

• Lip-service being paid to online campaigning

While the majority of candidates are online in name, only a few are actively embracing the platforms. Most remain at
a low level of activity and interaction, while dormant Twitter accounts and Facebook pages remain extremely
common.

• A few active candidates mask general lack of uptake

There are some examples of candidates, especially those with national profile, dominating the online platforms in our
sample. 62% of all the supporters and fans on Facebook come just from the top three most popular profile pages.

• Online campaigning not integrated - a key online strategy

A key test for effective use of online platforms is the level to which they are integrated with one another. Our
research highlights, even where candidates have a good presence on one platform online, they often fail to link their
presence to the other sites they use. Facebook, Twitter, websites and blogs, as well as other platforms, are
frequently viewed and delivered as separate entities.

• Central parties use of new media has not filtered down consistently to candidates
While the three main parties are all bidding to outdo each other, with online draft manifestos and iPhone
applications, as well as appointing ‘Twitter Tsars’ and the like, uptake from candidates on the ground is often at the
most basic level.

• Minor parties and independents using online platforms more effectively

The minor party and independent candidates in our sample are using online platforms more actively and effectively
than the major parties. In most cases independents and minor party candidates remain relatively unchallenged online.

Key findings
10% of candidates still have no personal website
54% of websites have no links to candidate’s social networking platforms.
29% of candidates use a blog
Top 10 most followed candidates on Twitter account for 52.6% of the total number of followers
Top 10 most popular Facebook pages account for 84% of total Facebook supporters and fans
3. Sample
The sample of 100 seats was chosen by the Get Elected team to represent a broad range of likely key
constituencies at the next general election.

Drawing on and acknowledging the excellent insight offered by UK Polling Report, we have developed a
sample that incorporates most key marginal seats, while not remaining exclusive to them. We have also
included other seats that we consider interesting for other reasons, namely those with high profile
independent candidates, recent by-election or possible Portillo-esque decapitations.

For each seat, unless a three-way marginal or where a party leader is standing, we have only reviewed the
online presence of the two candidates which, based on notional and previous figures, have the best chance
of claiming victory.

We have chosen exclusively to focus on a candidate’s website and blogging activity, combined with the
largest two social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter.

The research audit took place throughout February 2010.

Over the 100 seats we reviewed the online presence of 233 candidates

85 Conservatives 5 Independent 1 UKIP

78 Labour 3 Respect 1 BNP

54 Lib Dem 3 SNP

2 Green 1 Speaker

For more information about the sample, or for a full list of the 100 seats, please contact
james.knight@getelected.co.uk
4. Full Results
Campaigning websites
Lack of presence
A staggering 10% have no personal website, with another 2% unavailable or under construction. Of
those that do have a website, only 29% have a blog. Furthermore, these are not just candidates that have
been selected recently, but sitting MPs and some that have been in position for a number of years.

Low interaction
Using our ranking scale of 1-3 our findings point to low overall scores across all parties in terms of levels of
interaction with the user and regularity of website updates. On average, the candidates were marked a
fairly derogatory 1.4 for interaction, and 1.7 for regularity.

Lack of linkages
The majority of websites were also not coordinated in their online campaigning, with 54% having no link to
other online platforms. Further to this, our research found some instances of meaningless links to social
media sites, pointing users to the Facebook homepage for example, or to a dormant Twitter page.

Twitter
Lib Dem candidates embracing Twitter
45% of the total sample has some presence on Twitter. 50% of Lib Dems candidates had an account, just
ahead of the Conservatives on 48%, with Labour having only 38% of their candidates being active on the
platform.

Labour with the widest reach

Despite having fewer candidates signed up to Twitter, Labour candidates have been much more effective at
getting followers1.

The total number of followers for the 105 candidates on Twitter was 64,572 (not unique followers), with
an average of 614 per candidate.

The total number of followers for each party was 24,105 for Labour, 14,525 for the Lib Dems and
8,447 for the Conservatives. The average following was 804 for Labour, 537 for the Lib Dems and 206
for the Conservatives.

1
Total follower figures are not unique. We appreciate there will be much duplication across Twitter accounts and users. However, this
gives a strong enough indication of direction of travel for conclusions to be drawn.
Average Twitter followers by party

900

800

700

600
500

400

300

200
100

0
Labour Lib Dems Conservative

N.B figures exclude Nick Clegg2

Clegg leading amongst leaders

Although we omitted Nick Clegg from the average follower calculations, it is worth noting that while
Conservative Party leader David Cameron remains off Twitter, Nick Clegg was the most followed in our review.

A dominant few lead the many

One of the striking aspects of the statistics is that a small number of politicians account for a large portion of the
total number of followers. The top 10 politicians account for 52.6% of the total number of followers.

Candidate Party Followers

Nick Clegg Lib Dem 7,557

Ed Balls Labour 5,298

George Galloway Respect 5,077

Sadiq Khan Labour 3,890

Ben Bradshaw Labour 3,227

Jim Knight Labour 2,218

Jo Swinson Lib Dem 2,729

Caroline Lucas Green 1,334

Esther Rantzen Indep 1,323

Julia Goldsworthy Lib Dem 1,312

Top 10 total 33,965

2
Nick Clegg accounts for almost a third of total Liberal Democrat followers in our sample. To ensure direct comparison (as neither
Gordon Brown nor David Cameron are on Twitter) and to keep the focus on candidates rather than high profile party figures, we have
excluded Nick Clegg from this specific calculation.
Most followed Twitter users
67% of all followers come from just 17% of the candidates. Conversely, 72% of the candidates combine to
account for only 17% of the total followers.

Average followers

17% have 1000+ followers Top 17% account for

67% of followers

13% have between

500-1000 followers

38% have between

100-500 followers

27% have between account for

10-100 followers 15.7% of followers

account for
14.6% of followers

5% have fewer than 10 followers 2.5% of followers

0.2%

No prominent Conservative Party figure on Twitter

As the table shows, a number Cabinet ministers have used their national profile to formulate an online
Twitter following. Similarly, Nick Clegg has embraced the platform and is the most followed candidate in
our sample. The top ten most followed has no Conservative Party candidate.

Failing to connect with online constituents

Taking a basic average, with 7.2% of the UK being on twitter3 and c70,0004 people in a constituency, the
average amount of people on Twitter in a constituency is 5040.

Of course there are huge variants in the size of UK constituencies and the regional use of Twitter, yet it
seems fairly striking that only 3 out of 233, or 1.3% of our sample attain this average figure.

All parties are struggling to interact effectively

The research also looked into the levels of interactivity and regularity with which the Twitter accounts were
updated. Using our rating scale of 1-3, where 1 means no activity and 3 means significant activity, the results
were unimpressive, although markedly similar across parties.

3
http://blog.sysomos.com/2010/01/14/exploring-the-use-of-twitter-around-the-world/
4
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmgeneral/deleg2/090309/90309s01.htm
 Conservative Labour Lib Dem

Regularity: 2.2 Regularity: 2.2 Regularity: 2.3

Interactivity: 1.7 Interactivity: 1.8 Interactivity: 1.8

Dormant Twitter accounts remain common

Using Twitter just to broadcast, not interact

Facebook
Labour behind on Facebook campaigning
59% of our sample use Facebook explicitly for campaigning5. 63% of Lib Dems candidates are using the
platform, followed by 61% of Conservative candidates, while only 52% of Labour candidates have a
campaigning page.

Dominant figures leading the majority

The top ten most followed listed below account for 84% of the total number of supporters and fans.
The top three alone account for 62%.

Candidate Party Followers

George Galloway Respect 27,220

David Cameron Con 16,144

Nick Griffin BNP 11,359

Jeremy Browne Lib Dem 4,611

Nick Clegg Lib Dem 3,451

Tim Farron Lib Dem 3,166

Susan Kramer Lib Dem 2,534

Andrew Slaughter Labour 2,053

Julia Goldsworthy Lib Dem 1,810

Caroline Lucas Green 1,593

Prominent Labour candidates not embracing Facebook

While staying away from Twitter, David Cameron has a strong and active campaigning page on Facebook.
Nick Clegg similarly has a decent online following. While Barrack Obama continues to gather supporters,
now close to 8 million, Gordon Brown is yet to have an official support page of any description.

Labour grassroots ahead on average supporters

Just as on Twitter, when the leaders are taken out of the equation, Labour average the highest following. On
Facebook, Labour average 250 supporters, fans or friends, compared to 197 and 179 for the Conservatives
and Lib Dems respectively.

5
Some candidates have multiple profiles or pages. Where this is the case, we have used only the one page we consider to be the
principle campaigning page for that candidate, whether a group, a fan page or in some instances a personal profile.
 300

250

200

300

100

50

0
Labour Conservative Lib Dems

Exc. leaders

More lack of regularity

Similarly to our Twitter findings, the three main parties all linger around the same mark when ranked on our
1-3 scale for regularity of Facebook updates, with Conservative, Labour and Lib Dems scoring 1.6, 1.6 and
1.9 respectively.

Facebook pages with few fans and no interaction remain throughout

Some even without a picture

Uptake from minor parties and independents
Perhaps unsurprisingly, independents and minor parties in our audit are engaging in new media more
actively.

Respect’s leader Salma Yaqoob has built a solid online following and is almost unchallenged online by other
candidates for Birmingham Hall Green. Another prominent Respect candidate, George Galloway, has
amassed a huge amount of supporters online in his fight to gain Poplar and Limehouse.

In Barking, neither Labour’s Margaret Hodge nor the Conservative’s Simon Marcus have embraced online
campaigning to the same extent as their controversial opponent, BNP leader Nick Griffin.

Caroline Lucas, in Brighton Pavilion, has capitalised on her national profile to build a strong online following.
However, in this case, both Nancy Platts and Caroline Vere, of Labour and the Conservatives respectively,
have also fully embraced and engaged new media effectively.

Esther Ranzen in Luton South was developing a decent online following on Twitter and is generally well
engaged with website and blog activity. None of the candidates from the major parties are using new media
as effectively.
Tips for candidates: build a better online campaign
1. Prepare and understand

• Understand the various platforms

• Have a presence on all leading social media platforms

• Build presence in advance of election campaign

2. Personalise and engage

• Engage with supporters and followers, rather than just use as a broadcast medium

• Personalise communications to enhance engagement

• Make both proactive comment and to react to events

3. Maintain and manage

• Take an active control over your online presence

• Regularly update, don’t let accounts go dormant

• Integrate all social media presence to build and maintain following

For further information, please contact james.knight@getelected.co.uk or

carlo.gibbs@apexcommunications.com
5. Appendix A: the list of seats and candidates reviewed

Barking Margaret Hodge Buckingham John Bercow

Simon Marcus Nigel Farage
Nick Griffin
Burnley Julie Cooper
Barrow Jonathan Woodcock Gordon Birtwistle
John Gough
Camborne & Redruth Julia Goldsworthy
Battersea Martin Linton Jude Robinson
Jane Ellison George Eustice

Bethnal Green & Bow Abjol Miah Carshalton & Wallington Tom Brake
Rushanara Ali Ken Andrew

Birmingham Hall Green Roger Godsiff Cheadle Mark Hunter

Jo Barker Ben Jeffreys
Jerry Evans
Salma Yaqoob Cheltenham Martin Horwood
Mark Coote
Birmingham Yardley John Hemming
Lynette Kelly Chippenham Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones
Duncan Hames
Blackpool North Joan Humble
& Cleveleys Paul Maynard Chorley Lindsay Hoyle
Alan Cullens
Blanaeu Gwent Dai Davies
Nick Smith Clacton Douglas Carswell
Ivan Henderson
Brecon & Radnorshire Roger Williams
Suzy Davies Crawley Laura Moffatt
Henry Smith
Brent Central Dawn Butler
Sarah Teather Crewe & Nantwich Edward Timpson
David Williams
Brentford & Isleworth Ann Keen
Mary MacLeod Croydon Central Gavin Barwell
Andrew Dakers Gerry Ryan

Brighton Pavillion Nancy Platts Dartford John Adams

Charlotte Vere Gareth Johnson
Bernadette Millam
Caroline Lucas Derby North Bob Laxton
Stephen Mold
Bromley & Chislehurst Bob Neill Lucy Care
Chris Kirby
Sam Webber Dewsbury Shahid Mailk
Simon Reevell
Devon North Nick Harvey Guildford Anne Milton
Philip Milton Sue Doughty
Mark Cann
Halifax Linda Riordan
Dorset South Jim Knight Philip Allott
Richard Drax
Dorset West Oliver Letwin Hammersmith Shaun Bailey
Sue Farrant Andrew Slaughter

Dudley South Ian Pearson Hampstead & Kilburn Glenda Jackson

Chris Kelly Chris Philp
Ed Fordham
Dumfries & Galloway Russell Brown
Peter Duncan Harlow Bill Rammell
Robert Halfon
Dumfriesshire Clydesdale David Mundell
& Tweeddale Claudia Beamish Harrow East Tony McNulty
Aileen Orr Bob Blackman

Dunbartonshire East Jo Swinson Hereford & Jesse Norman

Mary Galbraith South Herefordshire Sarah Carr

Dunfermline & West Fife Willie Rennie Hove Celia Barlow

Thomas Docherty Mike Weatherley

Ealing Central & Acton Angie Bray Ipswich Chris Mole

Bassam Mahfouz Ben Gummer
Jon Ball
Islington South Emily Thornberry
East Renfrewshire Jim Murphy & Finsbury Bridget Fox
Richard Cook
Kingswood Roger Berry
Eastleigh Chris Huhne Chris Skidmore
Maria Hutchings
Kirkaldy & Cowdenbeath Gordon Brown
Edinburgh South West Alistair Darling Lindsay Paterson
Jason Rust John Mainland
Tim McKay Gavin McClement

Enfield North Joan Ryan Leeds NW Greg Mulholland

Nick de Bois Julia Mulligan
Judith Blake
Exeter Ben Bradshaw
Hannah Foster Lewisham Deptford Joan Ruddock
Darren Johnson
Filton & Bradley Stoke Jack Lopresti
Ian Boulton Liverpool Wavertree Luciana Berger
Peter Tyzack Colin Eldridge

Glasgow East John Mason Liverpool West Derby Robert Wareing

Margaret Curran Stephen Twigg
Luton North Kelvin Hopkins Redditch Jacqui Smith
Jeremy Brier Karen Lumley

Luton South Gavin Shuker Richmond Park Susan Kramer

Nigel Huddleston Zac Goldsmith
Qurban Hussain Eleanor Tunnicliffe
Esther Rantzen
Rochester & Strood Mark Reckless
Manchester Withingon John Leech Teresa Murray
Lucy Powell
Romsey & Southampton Sandra Gidley
Mid Dorset & Annette Brooke Caroline Nokes
North Poole Nick King Aktar Beg

Morley & Outwood Ed Balls Rugby Mark Pawsey

Antony Calvert Andy King

Newbury Richard Benyon Sheffield Central Paul Blomfield

David Rendel Paul Scriven

Newton Aboott Richard Younger-Ross Sheffield Hallam Nick Clegg

Anne-Marie Morris Nicola Bates
Jack Scott
Northamptonshire South Andrea Leadsom
Matthew May Sittingbourne & Sheppey Gordon Henderson
Angela Harrison
Norwich North Chloe Smith
John Cook Solihull Lorely Burt
Maggie Throup
Norwich South Charles Clarke
Antony Little Somerton & Frome David Heath
Simon Wright Annunziata Rees-Mogg

Old Bexley & Sidcup Derek Conway Southport John Pugh

James Brokenshire Brenda Porter
Rick Everitt
St. Albans Anne Main
Oxford East Andrew Smith Roma Mills
Ed Argar Sandy Walkington
Steve Goddard
Stourbridge Lynda Waltho
Oxford West & Abingdon Evan Harris Margot James
Nicola Blackwood
Sunderland Central Julie Elliott
Poplar & Limehouse Jim Fitzpatrick Lee Martin
Tim Archer
Jonathan Fryer Taunton Deane Jeremy Browne
George Galloway Mark Formosa

Pudsey Jamie Hanley Tooting Sadiq Khan

Stuart Andrew Mark Clarke
Torbay Adrian Sanders
Marcus Wood

Tynemouth Alan Campbell

Wendy Morton

Watford Claire Ward

Richard Harrington
Sal Brinton

Westmorland & Lonsdale Tim Farron

Gareth McKeever

Winchester Martin Tod

Steve Brine

Witney David Cameron

Joe Goldberg
Dawn Barnes

Worcestshire West Harriett Baldwin

Richard Burt

Wyre Forest Richard Taylor

Mark Garnier
Nigel Knowles

York Outer Julian Sturdy

James Alexander
Madeleine Kirk