Normally, I don't talk about politics on this blog, but after today's historic ejection of the speaker Michael Martin from the House of Commons (the first time it has happened since John Trevor in 1695) I can't not comment!
Blogs such as the notorious Order-Order have been instrumental in breaking recent stories concerning government smears & expense fiddling which led to the speaker being forced to resign. Whilst the mainstream press has also played a key part in the process (especially the Daily Telegraph which was the paper responsible for leaking the expense claims) I would contend that the blogosphere has whipped the general public into an unprecedented fury with the current administration. Without editorial and advertising restrictions, the top political blogs are generally more pointed in their coverage and the nature of a blog encourages commenting & discussion of the stories.
Whilst leading politicians such as Gordon Brown & David Cameron are quick to use social media, especially youtube broadcasts, to communicate their messages the real power of web 2.0 lies with the general populace. Never before have politicians been so accountable to the electorate. Their actions are quickly scrutinised around the globe and the ability for videos to go viral has leant unheard of levels of exposure to incidents such as the speech by Daniel Hannan, MEP, criticising the Prime Minister which was quickly loaded onto youtube and following mainstream media coverage has had over 2.3million views to date. Surely this can only be a good thing?
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