The Internet at the Next General Election

Most nights at present I watch BBC 2's Masterchef. Each evening the two star michelin chef Michel Roux Jnr considers each dish he tastes, and gives a highly polished critique of each one. In doing so he demonstrates a highly developed palette. And then comes comes Gregg Wallace, whose main fame is that he was well known for promoting vegetables. For each dish he tries to find a way of repeating what Roux says, but using different language. Each night my wife and I joke that all Wallace needs to do is point his eyes at his co-host and say "what he says mate".

I read Bill Thompson's piece on the BBC website on the role of the Internet at the next General Election. And despite being one of those commentators he criticises, my response is "what he says mate". I only probably disagree with one substantive point, namely that I think the Internet will have an effect in terms of mobilising resources (it did to a lesser extent in 2005). In essence, the Internet is only a communication channel , what matters more is the culture, strategy and vision behind the overall campaign of which the online arm is only a part. The Internet will not drive a party's election campaign, rather it will reflect it.