Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
First New Media Local Elections?
This Tuesday some names in journalism led a debate at the City University on whether the forthcoming general election is about to be the UK's first where new media will play a significant role.
Taking that down to a local level, I'm interested in the extent to which new media will affect the coming London local elections.
We'll be doing our bit here on Harringay Online, trying to make sure we get as much contribution as possible online from our local candidates. Whether residents have an appetite for it remains to be seen.
But what about the candidates? Which of them from the three wards that are wholly or partly in Harringay, are using new media? To answer that, we've developed a New Media Quotient (NMQ) measurement for both parties and politicians.
The NMQ measures the scope and depth of each candidate's use of new media. (To avoid any potential for political bias, we're not measuring quality of contribution).
Here's how things stand as of today:
TOP OVERALL NMQ
Top 5 Candidates
Justin Hinchcliffe (Con, Seven Sisters) - 50
Nora Mulready (Lab, Harringay) - 40
David Schmitz (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 23
Tim Caines (Con, Harringay) - 19
Karen Alexander (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 17
Top Party in a Ward
Harringay Ward Labour + Liberal Democrats - 17
Top Party across the 3 Wards
Labour - 10
TOP NMQ ON HOL
Top 5 Candidates
Justin Hinchcliffe (Con, Seven Sisters) - 100
Nora Mulready (Lab, Harringay) - 69
David Schmitz (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 69
Karen Alexander (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 62
Chris Ford (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 46
Top Party in a Ward
Harringay Ward Liberal Democrats - 59
Top Party across the 3 Wards
Labour - 28
So we have a good start in Harringay ward and an overall winner in Justin Hinchcliffe. but the first term's report is definitely could do better.
What will mastering new media mean to the election outcome, I wonder. Can the smart candidate replicate something of the Obama effect?
If you'd like to see the details of the NMQ, see the attachments as either pdf (hyperlinks non-functional) or Excel.
Taking that down to a local level, I'm interested in the extent to which new media will affect the coming London local elections.
We'll be doing our bit here on Harringay Online, trying to make sure we get as much contribution as possible online from our local candidates. Whether residents have an appetite for it remains to be seen.
But what about the candidates? Which of them from the three wards that are wholly or partly in Harringay, are using new media? To answer that, we've developed a New Media Quotient (NMQ) measurement for both parties and politicians.
The NMQ measures the scope and depth of each candidate's use of new media. (To avoid any potential for political bias, we're not measuring quality of contribution).
Here's how things stand as of today:
TOP OVERALL NMQ
Top 5 Candidates
Justin Hinchcliffe (Con, Seven Sisters) - 50
Nora Mulready (Lab, Harringay) - 40
David Schmitz (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 23
Tim Caines (Con, Harringay) - 19
Karen Alexander (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 17
Top Party in a Ward
Harringay Ward Labour + Liberal Democrats - 17
Top Party across the 3 Wards
Labour - 10
TOP NMQ ON HOL
Top 5 Candidates
Justin Hinchcliffe (Con, Seven Sisters) - 100
Nora Mulready (Lab, Harringay) - 69
David Schmitz (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 69
Karen Alexander (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 62
Chris Ford (Lib Dem, Harringay) - 46
Top Party in a Ward
Harringay Ward Liberal Democrats - 59
Top Party across the 3 Wards
Labour - 28
So we have a good start in Harringay ward and an overall winner in Justin Hinchcliffe. but the first term's report is definitely could do better.
What will mastering new media mean to the election outcome, I wonder. Can the smart candidate replicate something of the Obama effect?
If you'd like to see the details of the NMQ, see the attachments as either pdf (hyperlinks non-functional) or Excel.
Tags for Forum Posts: 2010 local election, 2010 local elections
- Attachments:
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Candidates NMQ.pdf, 118 KB -
Candidates NMQ.xls, 109 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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We're not talking about replacing door-to-door canvassing Lisa. Nothing will ever be better than face-to-face.
The point is to augment the amount of conversation between candidates and voters. The greater the opportunity to discuss with our candidates the better prepared we will be to vote.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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It's a fair point Lisa. On the doorstep etc engagement is important which is why we are planning to host a hustings in the local area in April to which all candidates/residents are invited.
I think Hugh's original point is that everyone, including politicians, are wondering if these new technologies will make any difference, not a certainty that they do. These are fascinating times and many people are genuinely intrigued by whether the use of social media can make a difference. Only time will tell and for some, it clearly won't replace a good old fashioned door knock, for others, being able to access details online about candidates via social networks that they already use for a variety of purposes such as Facebook, Twitter, HOL may be invaluable in helping them to make up their mind. Speaking purely for myself, it is certainly making me think much harder about where to put my cross on May 6th
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Permalink Reply by Mark Pack on
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It may sound trite, but one challenge with talking to people on the doorsteps in somewhere like Haringey is simply finding many of them in.
Typically, only around 1 in 5 doors or less will be answered if you're out door knocking around here. So there's an awful lot of door knocking and re-knocking before you get to the point where people stop saying, "Ah but you never came to talk to me" :-)
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Mark, precisely the point (or one of them) I was making to John&Nora earlier. My own experience of door-stepping Wightman Road in three separate causes over the past two years is 'Knock loudly' and be prepared to return often to knock again at staggered times of day and on various weekdays and weekend. Being content to drop a 'Caught You Out' slip through the door is a real cop-out, a turn-off, a permit for cynicism.
The impression I get from some Labour 'activists' is that it's enough to do an intensive run round the streets in the weeks leading in to an election. Where have they been for the past four years - or for the past 34 years of my time in Harringay Ward, come to think of it.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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@Lisa Absolutely, back to horse and cart too.
Organising 11 blokes for a game of cricket has become a breeze thanks to email. I am gobsmacked by the possibilities of what things like HoL could do for politics. I rather fear that the political parties are too...
Do you fancy holding a politician to something they said to you on your doorstep a year ago?
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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In the context of dismally-low turnouts, I hope those who say " I can't be bothered " It makes no difference anyway" " They're all a load of self-serving hypocrites " will take a look at the elections in Iraq today.
Brave men and women, with a touching faith in what may be a flawed democratic process, made the effort to get to the polling stations, even under mortar fire, in spite of the fact that it may be many months before a Government can be formed and the end result may be imperfect. It's reported that 35 of them died in the attempt.
If we don't vote in our elections, we are spitting in the face of these courageous people.
Ack BBC picture
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Similar in South Africa after the demise of apartheid where long queues formed outside polling stations. Many take our freedoms, our democracy and our elections for granted.
I hope that Hugh's "new media" might encourage greater interest and participation.
The results are always everywhere imperfect ... but the alternatives are so much worse.
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I agree.
When I think what the women of 100 years ago went through to secure me the vote, I would consider it an insult to their struggle to refuse to take part in an election that as you say Clive, despite its imperfections, is free, fair and democratic.
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Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
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Wasn't it Henry Ford that never actually said, "you can have any coloured car, as long as it's black"? Choice is a real problem in politics and I guess that and the systems we have in place are major factors in people not bothering to vote.
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Political choice: It is said that Ford wanted to sell cars painted only in black, because it was black paint that dried quickest on the assembly line! Can the metaphor be extended into politics?! Henry Ford is also reported to have said, if you ask customers what they want, they'll answer "a faster horse". Maybe it's a case of, I don't know much about politics, but I know what I like.
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I appreciate that is it at times hard to see clear water between the major parties but I disagree that we have no 'choice'. We don't have to vote for the big three, smaller parties do stand, especially in the General - far as I know we are not a one party state yet. Equally you may go to the polls and spoil your paper with a comment but for me it is still a sobering thought that for my right as a woman to enter a polling booth women were imprisoned, force fed, beaten and indeed killed.
Despite what some would have you believe, I am not a cynic about the political process, on the contrary I see participation in civic life as a responsibility. Not bothering to vote is not the same as making a statement about disenchantment with what is on offer. Although some politicians seem to react badly to some mild criticism about lack of vision/policy/intellectual framework, as we have seen, the good ones rise to the challenge and raise their game - in a sense they make us forget the Party and re - engage with the issues. For me my use of social media has re -engaged me in political thought, discussion and action (again despite the charge brought that all we ever do is talk online) in a way that I would not have done so had politics remained in community halls and in party hqs.
I don't believe its true that people don't care about politics, most people I talk to care deeply and they want to know what people who stand for election care about too.
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It's not just women who couldn't vote, most of the country couldn't vote at some point whether it was class, religion or gender.
There is a choice but very little, more so in recent years. There is the deposit scheme which means someone who wants to stand has to find backing before they can even contemplate canvassing the electorate. Most elections only have three choices, I can remember two in one instance, yes some have the smaller parties but again at the general election you have to have a deposit.
We have to ask ourselves why don't people vote, I think it's because they don't think they have a choice, their vote is worthless (which most are in the GL) politicians don't live in the real world, again more so nationally. There is a huge problem in voting apathy which I find concerning and something I would wish to address should I be a politician.
I did like the London Mayoral elections because there seemed to be a wide choice, ten or twelve parties and of course PR to boot with turnout at just under 50% far better than local turnout.
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