Commons 2.0
The House of Commons remains in dire need of reform, but today’s election of a new Speaker (which as I type is in its second round) shows how much more open Westminster has become over the last few years thanks largely to the internet.
The newly revamped Parliament.uk has been streaming the hustings live from the chamber. Within minutes of candidates’ speeches finishing, the FT had potted summaries of them for those of us that needed a précis. The Guardian gave us another of its entertaining live blogs which you could set to auto refresh every minute. And of course the events of the day were all over twitter under the #newspeaker hash tag. Sarah Mc Carthy-Fry even tweeted who she voted for (John Bercow).
Despite being behind the curve in embracing digital technologies, the Commons has become far more accessible because the people in it (MPs researchers and journalists) have started using the internet. And that in my view is a good thing, but there are still two problems.
Firstly, whilst individual politicians and political parties have realised the value of the internet for online engagement, the government continues to shy away from opening itself up to its citizens, for example by releasing public data like OS maps for free.
And secondly, I get the sneaking suspicion (as yet unconfirmed) that there are more people live streaming the latest series of Big Brother than Margaret Beckett’s plans for Select Committee Reform. All these great innovations are certainly making the jobs of public affairs professionals easier, but are they increasing accountability and participation to the wider electorate?