Just six Southend councillors are online (From Echo)

Just six Southend councillors are online

2:00pm Wednesday 18th January 2012 in Southend By Stephen Hackwell

Internet age - councillor Nigel Holdcroft's blog

IN THE 19th century, it was the pamphlet. Then 100 years later, it was the television advert.

Now, as politicians get to grips with the digital revolution of the 21st century, the blog is fast becoming the campaign tool of choice.

Across the country, MPs and councillors are using online diaries as a way of keeping in touch with their voters.

In south Essex, political blogging is a mixed bag.

Of more than 150 district and borough councillors in the south of the county, fewer than one in six have an online presence, and fewer still update it regularly.

It is the lack of activity which frustrates Julian Ware-Lane, a former Labour Parliamentary candidate for Castle Point, who will stand in Southend Council’s elections in May.

Mr Ware-Lane has been an avid blogger for several years and updates his website daily. He said: “I do read the opposition’s blogs in Southend.

“However, I do not tackle them daily, in part due to time pressure, but mainly because so few are updated regularly.

“If anything frustrates, it is this lack of activity. It is almost as if there is a recognition that an internet presence is desirable, but the effort to keep it current is beyond them.”

Out of the dozen or so political blogs in Southend, only four have been updated since the start of the new year.

It is a similar situation in Basildon, where only a handful of councillors claim an online presence.

One of the most prominent, Tory deputy council leader Stephen Horgan, has not updated his blog since December 4, despite a flurry of posts during the Dale Farm eviction in November.

James Watkins, who runs an online media consultancy business in Southend, said a lack of updates could be more damaging than not having a blog at all.

He said: “The internet is all about the latest – the latest news, the latest gadgets, the latest gossip. If you’ve got a blog but you don’t update it, you can look very outdated, like you tried to make the effort to be modern, but failed in the process.

“If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it properly and be committed to it.”

South Essex’s politicians may be reluctant to maintain their online presence, but the lethargy does not appear to be limited to a single party.

Indeed, the spread of who blogs and who does not is seemingly unconnected to party politics or the various power chasms in the county’s councils.

In Southend, where the Liberal Democrats are the main opposition to the ruling Tories, only one of the party’s ten councillors – Paul Collins – maintains a regular blog.

In contrast, Rochford district’s Lib Dems, who trail their council’s leading Tory group by a huge majority of 27, update a daily diary, dubbed Online Focus.

Chris Black, the group’s leader and chief blogger, said: “Blogs are a good way of keeping in touch with people throughout the year.

“I sometimes find people will know me already when I knock on their door because they read the blog.

“That is an excellent way of allowing people to get to know and judge you. It does not replace real campaigning, however. A blog cannot campaign on your behalf.”

Nigel Holdcroft, the Tory leader of Southend Council, has maintained a blog for two years.

He said: “It is quite remarkable how the number of visitors has increased over that time.

“It is an important way of staying in touch with people.”