Online Campaigning - We've got a long way to go

I went to a seminar a few days ago where we looked at the Conservative Party and the Labour Party websites. It is not something I had done before, so I was shocked to see the gulf in quality between the two.

As much as it pains me to say it the Conservative homepage looks modern, up to date and professionally integrates social networking sites like facebook and twitter and multimedia technology such as embedded videos and blogs.

More impressive though is that much of the content is based on the users. There is a feature called the Conservastive wall which is a range of videos of Conservative supporters explaining what being a Tory means today. It shows the party realise that a modern website is more than just a page of information, but a platform for interaction between the party and the public.



The Labour site in comparison is wordy, poorly structured and the webpage is far too long. Whereas the Conservative homepage is a doorway for a lot of content, the Labour site is trying too hard to provide all of the content in one place.

Furthermore the way it has integrated videos is poor. If your finger doesn’t get too tired scrolling down the page and you do click on a video, you will be taken away from the website to YouTube. This is ridiculous, even I can embed a video. Look I will show you...





What did you think of the changing camera angles? Not what you would call slick is it? It's almost comical.

Also this homepage videos are months old. In comparison, on the Conservatives homepage there is a one minute video of David Cameron on a train to Birmingham. In it he talks about a speech he is going to make to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce in which he apologised for the party not recognising the causes of the credit crunch earlier. This was headline news a couple of days ago, and the video explains the party’s position in a succinct short sound bite.

An (old)Knight in Shining Armour

The motivations of Labour’s online approach became clearer when reading Toby Helm’s article, ‘Prescott reinvented as online campaigner’ in the Observer on Sunday.

The intro reads, “John Prescott has been chosen as the unlikely leader of Labour’s general election campaign on the internet, as the party prepares to launch a low-budget battle for a fourth term in government.”

So in the context of the vast majority of young(ish) people using interactive social websites to engage with the world every day, the Labour party see the benefit of online campaigning as cost cutting? Didn’t they watch the Obama campaign and the election of the first e-President?

This view is reinforced further in the story. Helm says:

“Labour which is struggling to pay off a deficit of about £20 million sees low cost internet campaigning as a cheap but effective way of to reach mass audiences.

“The party wants supporters to use its website to print off posters and leaflets, which they would then distribute to voters ahead of both June’s European elections and the general election, expected next spring.”

Is this the sound bite that signals Labour are mastering the online campaign? Printing off posters and leaflets?

At least Prescott has a better idea, which is evident from his blog. He says the party can build relationships with new voters through online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. But still, is he the best man to lead the online revolution? I think even Conservatives would agree that his content is entertaining, but that is not the basis for being a master strategist in online campaigning.





Thankfully, I’m not sure that a better website corresponds to thousands more votes. But what worries me most about this difference in approach is that is that it shows the Labour Party to be completely out of touch with the modern world and how people are communicating. I am not a Conservative, but if Labour are going to get my trust and attention they need to raise their game in this area significantly.

P.S I realise this blog is too long for an online post – I’m still learning too.