Governing by Spin, Blag, & Blog
1) Be Where They Are
Panellist Prof Steve Webb MP (Liberal Democrat) is one of the first MPs to use social networking to “find” his constituents and engage them on a host of pressing local issues. He cited an example of how he was able to help a disabled woman in his constituency via Facebook. He helped to resolve her benefits problem to her satisfaction. However, the experience made him wonder why he did not know about her problems through the regular channels, like the telephone, the post, even a visit to his office. “The problem,” he said, “was that I was not where she was. It’s about relationship building; it’s about being where people are, speaking their language, all in a non-patronising way.”
The Rt Hon John Penrose MP, who is at the centre of Conservative policy making, agreed that one has an obligation to get as much feedback as possible from their constituents and engage with them on all levels if that is what it takes to reach them. He said: “You’ve got to be coming at constituents as their local representative without a particular colour (political) badge on you, otherwise you’ll lose a large proportion of them at the start, and they’re already filtering whatever you say through a party political.”
KEEP ME INFORMED |