As the May 7th elections draw closer, each of the UK political parties are pushing out their polished soundbites, slogans and strategies. The 2015 general elections will be the first in the UK in which the full force of social media and digital will be felt.
Door-to-door canvassing, hand-shaking and baby kissing are all traditional methods for politicians to engage with the voters, but in the age of @mentions and likes, there’s a lot to be said for a good social media strategy.
David Cameron
Prime Minister David Cameron currently has 947,000 followers on Twitter. His bio line reads:
“Prime Minister and leader of the @conservatives”. He joined Twitter in January 2010, mere months before taking ownership of the keys to Number 10.
The @Conservatives have a strong team, and a clear plan to secure a better future. Watch these videos to learn more: http://t.co/Mz0iwHlVaI
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 27, 2015
The bio of @conservatives, a profile which was established in April 2008 says:
“@DavidCameron and the Conservatives have a long-term economic plan which builds a stronger, healthier economy and secures a better Britain”
Snappy.
They have 141,000 followers. Both accounts are full of memes with political messaging and retweets of articles illustrating their policies.
Interestingly, neither profile engages with their many thousands of followers. Instead those followers are pumped a regular stream of party lines.
Ed Miliband
Over on Ed Milibands profile, which was set up in July 2009, the bio reads:
“Leader of the Labour Party, MP for Doncaster North, husband and dad. Follow this account for tweets from Ed Miliband and the @uklabour team.”
Despite the slightly more personalised bio, the Twitter page is full of links, videos and articles. Miliband links to longer posts on his Facebook page and photos on his Instagram account, but once again - there’s no interaction with his followers and voters.
For more articles and videos about what Labour would do differently, @UKLabour has a full stream of posts. They have been on Twitter since April 2008. Their bio is rather no-nonsense too:
“Twitter feed of the UK Labour Party. Keeping you up-to-date with news, speeches, events & videos.”
Nick Clegg
The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has 217,000 followers and interacts with them! Availing of the .@mention technique, Clegg ensures his interactions are seen by all that follow him.
Aside from the interactions, Clegg also pushes out images of public events, videos and links to media interviews. Clegg has been active on Twitter since 2008 and uses the bio line:
“Official tweets from the Deputy Prime Minister & leader of the @LibDems.”
Boris Johnson
While he’s not a leader of the main political parties, Boris Johnson is worth a follow in the lead up to #GE15. They Mayor of London has 1.19 million followers and strikes the right balance between the party line and entertainment. #AskBoris is an insight into the man and always promises a laugh or two.
