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 NMQTop 5 CandidatesJustin 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 WardHarringay Ward Labour + Liberal Democrats - 17
Top Party across the 3 WardsLabour - 10
TOP NMQ ON HOLTop 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 WardHarringay 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.