Guido Fawkes has blogged accusing Labour of going negative by picking up on the “grass roots geek campaign” of snide and comic alternatives to the Conservatives’ airbrushed David Cameron advert. He ridiculed Labour Party HQ for being “so devoid of original ideas that they have taken to stealing internet memes again.”
Well, that may be so. The Labour Party should remain aloof of such matters, and let the grass roots take care of such indecorous — if funny — activities, while perhaps providing the occasional bit of inconspicuous encouragement. It really doesn’t do Labour any favours to be seen to be at the front of a snarling, infantile pack. But Guido’s hardly the right person to be moaning about this kind of campaigning. He personally revels in his image of being the Right’s leading gadfly, and his blog was almost certainly the trailblazer for such campaigning, and is still at the vanguard. Nobody did more than Guido to bring this tabloid, viral, populist style into the British political blogosphere — an achievement of which he is openly proud.
And he is right to be proud, says the Parallax Brief. His is still the most entertaining political blog out there, and his perspicacious muckracking is bitchily underrated by a jealous printed media corps. But that also means he’s probably about as qualified to complain about this kind of thing as Kelvin MacKenzie is to decry the dumbing down of the newspaper industry.
Meantime, in the same post, Mr. Fawkes raises a penetrating point about the relative quality of the Right’s electronic presence compared to the Left’s:
The official Labour Party site is usually visited only by the party faithful. You have to push your message out. Look at what the Tories are doing, they are paying to advertise their Cameron videos on YouTube, reaching out to people who are not already signed up supporters. There are no votes to be gained from repeating your message to faithful party supporters on the official website or the party affiliated sites like LabourList and LabourHome.
Ignoring for a moment the merits of advertising on YouTube, one thing that has always struck the Parallax Brief as odd is how much better the Right’s blogs are. If it were just a case of popularity and page traffic, then one may have been able to conjure all kinds of arguments (perhaps that it’s easier for the right to be sensationalist, or that it’s easier to blog when in opposition, or the right has better networks for promotion, or simply that right wing views are more popular.) But it goes beyond that. ConservativeHome is simply better than LabourList. There simply is no Guido fascimile of the left (thank God, they might touch and send the world supernova, or something). That’s not to say that there are no good left leaning blogs. Hopi Sen and LeftFootForward are both consistently excellent. It’s just that the general standard of content on the right is better than on the left.
If anyone can explain this, please let the Parallax Brief know.
I leave the rest of this. But LabourList is only one year in. And what’s more had a very difficult toddler stage. ConservativeHome is many years in, is hugely better funded (it is funded!). The point isn’t necessarily wrong. Though there is some utter rubbish on ConservativeHome sometimes. But the point is incomplete. Similarly Guido’s blog was a sad sack when it started out.
I think it’s interesting that right wing blogs like ConservativeHome seem to attract a lot of left wing readers (judging from some of the comments). Presumably because they have no quality home of their own.
I think right blogs are also less likely to tow the party line and so are just a lot more interesting overall to everyone. Sometimes left leaning blogs just seem to be press releases from the party.
Quick plug for mine: Stratford Conservative
It has something to do with the left/leftist zeal, in my experience. Go anywhere near a left/socialist blog, and you’re often up against a very vocal (disproportionally so) atmosphere. You’re right about ConservativeHome being simply better than LabourList; the former has always struck me as being far more accepting of opposing views, far more open to feedback from other parts of the political spectrum. LabourList tends to only want to have grandstanding rants and no negative feedback.
The Right seem far more at ease with the Internet in general, from how to use video properly to how to attract a wider audience. The Left, as is so often the case “in real life”, tend to stand against the wall slogan-shouting.
It’s not rocket science really. Bye & large, Conservatives generally are just wiser than the left!
We’re not hung up on the “chip on the shoulder” political driving force of other parties, but mostly simply by a desire to improve the lot of our nation and its peoples.
Think Politics will soon host what is sure to be an absolutely fantastic left leaning blog so perhaps we can do something to redress the balance. That being said, we are also planning to host a liberal blog and a right leaning blog so perhaps not!
Parallax Brief, perhaps you can tell us which side of the political fence you lean on because we employ you and even we are not sure.
All plugs accepted on this blog, Simon. No flies on us.
The Parallax Brief certainly isn’t a natural supporter of the Conservative Party, but he thinks ConservativeHome is a fabulous resource. CentreRight is provoking — although not as good at provoking as “the Corner” and the appalling National Review Online (which is actually a good thing); Tim Montgomery is always swift and insightful; Tory Diary is excellent, and the Westminster and Local government sections are manna for wonks.
It’s just a first rate product, and although it’s clearly partisan, it feels less centrally controlled than LabourList — whether that’s right or wrong — and looks better, works better and has more information.
Anyway, to repeat, welcome to the blog, do visit regularly, and plug as often as you like — preferably if it’s relevant to a thread.
That’s a good point, Paul.
Here’s a theory for you, then: blogging tends to be the media of the disgruntled. There is more to moan about, more colourful language to be used, and harsher words to be said when you’re in opposition. So the motive and the difficulty is improved if your party is in opposition. Perhaps, therefore, Labour supporters came to the party late and they’re still playing catchup?
What do you think?
Do you think that, in general, the Right tends to be more relaxed about the way they make their arguments, and the left fussy and fastidious? Or is that a terrible generalisation?
Personally, the Parallax Brief believes that these are great hypothetical reasons (for their validity is open to debate) for the blogs being more popular, but is it a case for them being better quality?
Speaking as a “right wing” blogger, I have to say that it’s definitely easier to write something when you’re given so much to disagree with. For a start, one is replying to a premise and doing so with a motive – namely to seek to persuade others of that argument to the benefit of one’s own ’side.’
It may be that, come a Tory government, I find being a cheerleader less interesting than being a critic. Perhaps my blog (at http://cogitodexter.wordpress.com if I might be permitted a plug!) will have less of a resonance when the electoral argument has been won?
As an outsider (i.e. not directly involved in Westminster politics – haven’t been for some years now and probably too geographically distant anyway – and simply commenting as I see it on the themes of the day as they arise) this is my way of engaging in the political process. I am driven particularly because I am frustrated that all the things I see going wrong in the country are largely down to failing public policies driven by a political ideology that no longer matches the needs of real people (if it ever really did?). I have no outlet other than the ballot box and the blog (well, not unless I want to risk driving my friends insane by ranting too often!).
Are my (right wing) arguments more relaxed than the ‘fussy’ left? I don’t know. They are certainly visceral – every instinct tells me that the current government is a complete failure, so perhaps, if the country at large seems to agree, it’s not necessary to go into great detail?
Plug away Cogito. This seems to be the thread of plugs. Get ‘em in now.
Meantime, you might be onto something regarding your lot being in opposition. In general, the Parallax Brief can find something to loathe in all politicians, has a tendency toward grumbling, likes to be polemic, and has no party affiliation, so it’s not difficult for him. However, it’s clear that when the Conservatives are in power, you’re going to be in a very different environment in terms of blogging. You’ll switch from attack to defence, because no matter how great Dave is, he’ll make mistakes, and right now you have the luxury of being able to attack the policy and cheerlead for just ideas.
Do you think that the right might have gotten an earlier foothold in the internet, and thus be at a more advanced stage because it emerged as a campaign force and, indeed, communications media full stop, when they were in a long period of opposition?
Easy – the right wing blogs are funny, the left wing blogs seriously unfunny. Inward looking, self-referential, self-reverencing and blinkered.
we all know that GSOH is what’s wanted in life
Lefties generally write better, but earnestly & sour, it’s all so important yeah, permission to laugh not granted – check out any lefty blog, CiF etc
as it happens, piss-taking, wit & a bit of variety makes for a good read too, & still makes the point, check out Swift
the disparity is huge
I agree that the right leaning blog sites are much better than those on the left. I feel that this is due to the fact that the right is more open to different opinions. On the left, particularly New Labour, their postion is “the facts are what we tell you…& no discussion isn’t allowed.” Also the right wing of politics is currently more interesting & open to change than the left – which is retreating back to it’s old positioning.
For what it’s worth, I’d agree with the observation that being in opposition has helped the Tories develop their web presence. I believe there’s more to it than that, though.
I think most of us who are interested in politics experienced a mixture of admiration and horror as we watched New Labour’s management of the media in the late ’90s. Even if you disagree with the Blair/Campbell/Mandelson style you have to be impressed about how effective it was at delivering a consistent message. The Tories didn’t have that, which I think has made it easier for them to experiment; and I wonder if it isn’t so deeply ingrained in Labour bloggers that they simply find it hard to stray away from being ‘on message’, whatever that currently is (and I have to admit it’s not clear to me what messages New Labour is trying to convey to voters).
Should it not be “aloof from” rather than “aloof of”?
The phrase “bored of” also seems to be gaining ground whereas it was always “bored with” (or “bored by”) in earlier days.
Right are smarter and more realistic…Left are unworldly – they need the State to tell them what to think and say!
Nicholas, it’s probably true to say that the usual preposition used with aloof would be “from”, but of still makes sense, albeit with a subtly different meaning if examined academically.
The Parallax Brief shall try to keep this in mind for future usage.
It would probably have been reversed if blogging had been around in 1997. Labour has been in too long and it must be a struggle for even their biggest fanboys to work up much enthusiasm for defending everything they do. Many of the brighter leftists have deserted them. They come across as humourless and moralising and authoritarian and defensive because the establishment always does. It will be interesting to see how many years it takes for the positions to change once again. If the Tories stay in long enough to go sour like they did under Major, will sites like Ian Dale’s Diary and Conservative Home be doggedly sticking up for them no matter what they do?
I disagree about the Hopi Sen site – it strikes me as being a lot of pseudo intellectual left-wing claptrap. Sen is deeply, deeply embedded in his own backside.
Labour list is funny – because Alex Smith is so desperately naive, it hurts.
The lefty blogs will get their chance when Labour go into opposition. Opposition, is, after all, their favourite home.
Hopi’s insightful, produces original stories and ideas, and writes well. That automatically puts him in the top tier of bloggers.
The Parallax Brief just wishes that Hopi would post more.
I’d say that the best blog sites of any side do what they do, rather than responding to what other people do.
Guido is independent. He dances to no-one’s tune but his own. There is no such thing as an independent left-wing blog. They all dance to the Party’s tune. That’s what Socialism is.
Guido’s definitely independent, but there’s no doubt who he wants to win the election.
Are you SURE there are no independent left wing blogs?
Even some of the Labour MP blogs — Tom Harris, for instance — offer fairly independent, forthright views.
The Parallax Brief admits that he has been accosted by more po-faced, self-regarding, pious bores of from the left than he has from the right, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be good blogs.
Here’s something for everyone who has commented so far: In America it’s the other way around. The left wing blogs are clearly the best….
UPDATE: Dizzy thinks there’s a big gap, too. Of course, he would say that, because he’s a conservative, but he has some compelling figures to back him up.
One interesting point he makes is that really it’s all about engagement, and Labour is losing badly.
Read here: http://dizzythinks.net/2010/01/are-tories-winning-webby-engagement.html
Ta for the linkage, and thanks for using a small c not a large C.
>This seems to be the thread of plugs. Get ‘em in now.
I think the best political blog is the Wardman Wire.
Ok, let me wade in and say that I’m not sure ConservativeHome is all that good, though it has improved since Paul Goodman MP has been involved.
CH is a platform aggregating four or five pretty distinct feeds of stories, most of which are pretty good and it’s excellent to have them all in one place. The more philosophical op-ed feed pieces range from Okish to awful (read anything posted under the pseudonym Melanchthon to get a feel for how bad this stuff can be). To the extent that these think pieces are any good, they get lost in the noise as a new one is posted every day and the comments threads lose eyeballs. You can’t have a sustained debate.
I don’t have a dog in the Left/Right political fight, and it seems now to be “people who used to be the Left” vs “anyone who is against that kind of thing”. What is called the Right in the UK does indeed have the better blogs, and this is just a selection effect: the more interesting, indeed progressive, ideas are largely in that camp at the moment. Note however that despite having won the arguments hands down, the sane wing of Euroscepticism is completely absent from the UK media, old-style or on the blogs. This strand of opinion is often classified as Right-wing, but doesn’t enjoy the Right’s success in blogging.
It’s interesting to speculate about what the non-reflection of the Right’s blogging influence in the TV media suggests about that industry.
For political commentary, I’d recommend Slugger O’Toole (interestingly recently sponsored to become UK-wide by … a TV company).
I’m not a politico, just an ordinary Joe who is interested in politics, but here are my thoughts.
First, there always was the stereotype of the earnest left wing activist, far too worried about the state of the world to smile. The left wing blogs retain a little of that air, and as worthy as it is it is not particularly engaging or entertaining.
Second, at this particular point in the political cycle those who lean to the right are far more comfortable about their principles and political self-identity. Those on the left are struggling with theirs. That is partly the curse of the incumbent. Government is a dirty, messy business that involves many compromises. Principles have to be bent to expediency sometimes. That is difficult for politician to do but even harder for supporters to accept, and those who wish to argue from a position of strong principles and still show strong support for the Labour party have to tie themselves in knots to do so sometimes. That is not pretty or entertaining to watch, and tortured introspection does not make for a compelling blog.
But I also believe that Labour has been struggling to find a sense of self-identity ever since the 80s. That was when British society grew out of its strictly divided Us vs. Them, Management vs. Workers culture, and when we became affluent enough that there were few people living in abject poverty (absolute poverty, where you could barely afford to eat, not relative poverty where you can’t afford as many luxuries as the next family). Without a large, industrial unionised working class to fight for and without crushing poverty to campaign against Labour were a bit lost. They thought that they had found their way with New Labour but that has proved to be a false dawn. Now they are struggling to find their relevance in 21st century society. They cling to the same principles (quite rightly), but are trying to work out what fairness and equality actually mean in today’s world. They lapse back into the old rhetoric that had a clear meaning when the mission was simply to fight for higher wages and greater inclusion for the large, homogeneous working class. The dumb ones keep parroting the slogans, the more intelligent are trying to work out what they actually mean when the old battle lines have been replaced with a far more complicated society that you can’t just divide by drawing a line straight through it. It’s a necessary process (just as the Tory rethink after 97 was a necessary process that took quite some time) but it does not make for lively, witty or light-hearted blogging.
I think it is simply a case, as you say, of the right getting an earlier foothold on the internet. The right-leaning blogs are more popular, and in general, more fun to read (though there is a lot of rubbish out there).
I think this is largely because the Tories were in opposition when the internet became a force. If you look at America, the opposite is the case, where it is left leaning blogs such as the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post which are most successful. Obama’s harnessing of the power of the web was a major factor in his success – so there is nothing inherently right wing about the internet.
A lot of left leaning blogs do have a tendency to be po-faced as well as just not ‘getting’ the internet. But they need time to learn. An article in The New Statesman predicted the rise of the left wing blogosphere in 2010.
http://www.newstatesman.com/scitech/2010/01/labour-online-british-wing
I am also trying to rectify the problem:
http://www.lattesippers.com/the-latte-sippers/
(Well you did say this was the thread of plugs)
@Dizzy.
The Parallax Brief’s kindly a-level history teacher took time to explain the difference between a big c Conservative and a small c conservative after receiving an essay from yours truly in which the author couldn’t decide whether it was correct to capitalise or not, so just did so randomly.
Happy Days.
@Matt Wardman.
Matt, you got a plug in but didn’t add the link and spelled the URL wrong on your name link.
Here it is: http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/
How’s that for service?
Absolutely.
As long as you have something to contribute, plug away.
The Parallax Brief isn’t precious about these things.
Guido is a LIBERTARIAN as am I: that is why his blog succeeds – it attracts people who think and speak for themselves, not for some raft of ‘policies’ handed down by the leader of a political party. It’s true he wants rid of this appalling government, as does anyone with any intelligence; and he instinctively knows that freethinkers are more welcome on the ‘right’ (silly term) than on the left. But that doesn’t make him a Tory, and imo anyone who thinks the Tories will have an easier ride in the next parliament is in for a rude awakening
And as others have observed, no-one with any sense of humour can spend much time with people of the ‘left’, and no-one of any sense likes hypocrites, which most left-wingers most certainly are.
Clearly false to claim sneering negative campaigning in Britain originates from the Tories. Just exposes this writer’s ignorance of recent history.
The early 1960s Wilson/Labour campaign against the Conservatives {a set of Fluck and Law type caricature puppets of Tory ministers photographed in harsh lighting with the slogan ‘Yesterday’s Men – They Failed Before’} set the tone of British political-campaign shallowness for the next fifty years.
It marked a level of superficial image-over-substance nastiness which still has yet to be equalled by any Conservative attacks on Labour. The ‘Labour Isn’t Working’ poster of 15 years later {relating to an actual problem, Labour presiding over peak levels of post-war unemployment} doesn’t go halfway to matching it in content-free glibness.
This kind of double-standard commentary from socialists really raises the question of how clearly they understand anything else.
@Sam
The Parallax Brief understands why you have this point of view, and it’s probably a fair point if one was only basing one’s judgement on the recent past, but there have been free thinkers on both sides of the political divide throughout history — it just happens that in recent times, Labour has been a ferociously disciplined party that ruthlessly keeps it’s MPs and supporters on message.
You’re right that Guido is not necessarily tied to any particular party line, but there’s no doubt where the broad sweep of his message is going.
Your point about the left and sense of humour might be fair game. Although the Parallax Brief always thought Dennis Skinner was quite the wag.
@Mark Griffith
Who claimed that sneering negative campaigning originated with the Tories?
It may be true that there are few ‘independent left wing blogs’. I don’t know. But there are certainly a huge amount of blogs that espouse left wing ideologies as part of their whole. Right wing viewpoints are at their most entertaining when they are being espoused as satire. Anybody read the Henry Root Letters?