A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.
Iain Dale has now published the overall top 100 political blogs in the UK.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 8:11 am
Labour MP for North Durham since 2024. Labour Party activist since 1988 - firmly on the moderate wing of the party. Member of Labour’s NEC 2010-2012 and since 2020. National Secretary of Labour Students 1995-6. Parliamentary candidate for Aldershot (2001) and Castle Point (2005). Hackney Councillor (Chatham Ward) 2002-2014, Labour Group Chief Whip 2002-09, Chair of Health Scrutiny 2010-2014. Dad. Unite and GMB union member. All views expressed in a personal capacity. The rest will become evident from reading the blog.
6 Comments:
As usual Labour blogs are a bit under-gunned in the list - I assume this is because culturally the samizdat nature of blogging is more suited to opposition parties.
I think it's simpler than that: blogging is essentially an individualist, unregulated free-market activity. It's hardly surprising that right wingers are better at writing blogs and more interested in reading them. Many Labour blogs are heavily regulated and censored, and then wonder why they don't succeed.
In that light the few Labour bloggers with any significant presence (such as your good self) can be pretty pleased with yourselves.
2:55 pm, September 04, 2008
OP is right blogging is an individual means of expression and therefore not leftish by nature.Its also a class thing.
Public school fellow travellers like you , aside , the Labour support has almost no interest in blogging which requires enough confidence to have a view but also a sense of exclusion.
This is why it attracts the core lower middle-class Conservative voter.
The only decent left blogs are yours Hopi and Bob Piper and in your differing ways you are all quite Conservative.
Well done you are not all bad, probably just fell in with the wrong sort
11:28 pm, September 04, 2008
You two are the indoctrinated ones. Within the ideological spectrum of the left there is a great variety of views. Labour is a party from the moderate wing and its mainstream supporters are pro-individual choice and pro-aspirational.
There are more right wing blogs for two key reasons, Britain is a right wing leaning country (hence why there are more right wing newspapers as well)and is easier to criticise while blogging than to make complex arguments therefore more suited for opposition politics.
Love how you lot in the right talk about the far left all the time when has nothing to do with Labour, and if a left wing person talks about far right (BNP, Le Pen, etc.) you all get so offended.
12:08 pm, September 05, 2008
Actually leftish blogs don't appear terribly over-regulated at all.
There are also quite a lot of interesting collaborative blogs that are moving poltical blogging forward in interesting ways.
The truth is the two or three highest profile Tory blogs are EXTREMELY dull, very highly regulated (only offensive comments appear to be permitted) and dying a death.
I tend to read Luke, Grimmerupnorth, Labourhome and Union Futures and I feel reasonably fulfilled, political blog-wise. You can even get the views of Tories who aren't either PPCs or nutters by reading the comments on Labourhome - which aren't available on Tory sites!
5:29 pm, September 05, 2008
"As usual Labour blogs are a bit under-gunned in the list - I assume this is because culturally the samizdat nature of blogging is more suited to opposition parties."
I think the real reason is the fact that Labour blogger's have so little to say! And what they do have to say is to each other and all about how to grab power, not talking to the rest of us.
Maybe Labour folk are afriad of the abuse they might from everyone else get if they admit to being Labour?
9:32 am, September 06, 2008
More likely because of the electorate in Dale's unscientific poll really. Skewed towards the Dale/Fawkes hordes, as clearly exhibited in the top ten, particularly with many on the left either boycotting (Bob, LC) or lukewarm (moi).
3:12 pm, September 06, 2008
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