Politicians 'must start chatting online'
Published: 31 Oct 2001 14:13 GMT
The British public want to use the Internet to communicate better with their elected representatives at Westminster, rather than simply being told what their MP is doing. However, politicians seem reluctant to embrace the full potential of the Web.
On Monday the Hansard Society released details of a survey that asked 1,921 adults what they wanted their MP's Web site to offer. The results show that constituents want the opportunity to interact, and put their concerns and views across. Over half of those interviewed who had Internet access at home said their top priority would be an online surgery. However, two-thirds feared that politicians wouldn't listen to what they were told by their constituents.
Simply reading about the events the MP is planning to attend is much less popular, according to the Hansard Society. Only 10 percent of those interviewed want to see a daily diary on an MP's site.
Constituents also want their MP be contactable via the Internet. Amazingly, some MPs still don't aren't accessible by email. "I was shocked to find that most MPs' Web sites suggest that people get in contact with them by post," said Beccy Earnshaw of the Hansard Society, as she presented the details of the survey's findings at a meeting at Parliament on Monday night.
Sir George Young MP, who also spoke at the meeting, said that one fellow MP even boasts on his site that his email address cannot be used to contact him.
Increasing numbers of MPs, especially those who joined Parliament in the 1997 election, have launched their own Web sites. Currently, however, many of these sites offer little more than a biography, some photographs and some often out-of-date press releases.
Some more adventurous MPs have created discussion forums where constituents can express their views, but even these are not without their problems. "I've seen some forums where there are five questions posed by the MP, and no replies at all," said Earnshaw.
Digital divide
It is perhaps worrying that the Hansard Society discovered a clear split between those members of the public who want to see more e-politics, and those who do not -- with the clear difference between the two groups being wealth.
Almost 40 percent of those whose household income is greater than £25,000 per year want all government services to be accessible online, compared to just 21 percent of those whose household income is below £9,500.
The richer you are, the more likely you are to have a computer at home, and the Hansard Society survey also discovered a belief that a wholesale shift of government services onto the Internet might not be in the best interest of the nation.
"We asked people to agree or disagree with the statement that moving towards e-politics would be undemocratic because not everyone has access to the Internet. Most people -- 65 percent -- agreed, of which 29 percent agreed strongly," said Dr Stephen Coleman of the Hansard Society.
Many people don't even think that such a change would achieve very much. Coleman added that 65 percent of those interviewed believes that moving to e-politics would be futile because politicians wouldn't listen to what the public said.
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