Posts Tagged ‘David Cameron’

Does Trust Matter to the Average Voter?

Published on May 25th, 2010 by Jeff

Does Trust Matter to the Average Voter?

How important is the trust people place in politicians?  To hear the pundits say it, trust is paramount and the lessening of this in regards to our political leaders is a serious breach that must be addressed if the British are to be assured that their government is acting in their favour.  But in an age where personality matters more and more, is this really true to the average voter?

Recent research by Northstar – among young people in Britain – found an unexpected (to us at least) degree of respect for Tony Blair – as a politician, if not an honest, straightforward man.  Amongst those we talked to, there was zero trust in Blair to tell the truth.  He is seen as a smooth talker who will say whatever he needs to get what he wants.  But because of, not in spite of, this he is seen as a great politician.  What has made him successful in the eyes of these young people is the very factor that has ruined trust in him!

So what should be made of this, particularly with a new prime minister who explicitly has called himself the ‘heir to Blair’ and was helped to Number 10 by promising a shift in  his party toward far more open-minded and moderate views on any number of issues, from the environment to same sex civil partnerships?

If voters no longer vote with the confidence that their councillor, MP or Prime Minister will actually do what they say, it seems to raise the serious question of whether there is any right to complain when these men and women ‘change their minds’.  Politicians pursuing their own self interest in no way guarantees that the best interests of the country will be followed.  But if David Cameron ends up turning his back on many of the more progressive promises he has made…well, perhaps it is just him being good at his job.

Why is the political system only now embracing the internet?

Published on Apr 14th, 2010 by Chris

The political system should by its very nature listen to people and act. The parties are getting there, albeit slowly, with Webcameron (David Cameron’s YouTube channel) averaging 6,632 views over the 3 most recent updates which compares rather poorly to the 75,984 that have watched one of many entries showing the ‘Prescott punch’.

Recent research conducted by Northstar has shown that young people have very low engagement with politics. The expenses scandal has tarnished the system and it is the system that needs faith restored in it, not just the individual parties.

The political system itself has very little online, which is surprising as the potential is so huge.

Here a few sites which are trying to do that through increasing engagement or spreading important information in visually appealing ways:

Vote Match. Answer some multiple choice questions and find out which party shares most answers with you. Admittedly it does return some odd results but also throws up some interesting policies you may not have heard of.

Where Does My Money Go. Fantastic infographic detailing the total spend of the UK government

They Work For You. Plethora of stats about each individual MP including appearances and their voting records

Hear From You MP. A site which asks you to sign up to getting an update from your MP. It then contacts your MP and says ’25 people have asked for an update, reply to them now’ it then repeats this as the numbers signed up increases and contains a record of how many replies your MP has written