In Westminster political blogging there are three unofficial party affiliated sites which try to be the public voice of the grassroots. ConservativeHome is the daddy of them all, LabourHome is a technically superior site with far inferior content and a lack of editorial direction. LibDemVoice is a bit too much of an outlet for Cowley Street stuff that could be put in press releases.
Guido has been hearing rumours about a new CameroonHome site which Fraser Nelson has outed as going under the title “Platform 10“. Ex-Dave-Babe Fiona Melville is the motivating force behind it, backed by a 15-strong editorial team of mainly ex-CCHQ staffers lined up as contributors, but apparently with no full time editor. Steve Hilton has, it is believed, wanted an alternative Conservative grassroots voice to counter-balance the critical but friendly voice of Tim Montgomerie. Guido guesses it won’t work unless it is honest about issues. That is the strength of ConservativeHome, it explores the issues critically, and in doing so has improved the Tory internal debate. If CameroonHome becomes just a platform for “Dave is Great” stories in the same way that LibDemVoice ignores the “Ming Problem” it will be just another boring e-Pravda adjunct of the official party site. We shall see…
In Westminster political blogging there are three unofficial party affiliated sites which try to be the public voice of the grassroots. ConservativeHome is the daddy of them all, LabourHome is a technically superior site with far inferior content and a lack of editorial direction. LibDemVoice is a bit too much of an outlet for Cowley Street stuff that could be put in press releases.
Guido has been hearing rumours about a new CameroonHome site which Fraser Nelson has outed as going under the title “Platform 10“. Ex-Dave-Babe Fiona Melville is the motivating force behind it, backed by a 15-strong editorial team of mainly ex-CCHQ staffers lined up as contributors, but apparently with no full time editor. Steve Hilton has, it is believed, wanted an alternative Conservative grassroots voice to counter-balance the critical but friendly voice of Tim Montgomerie. Guido guesses it won’t work unless it is honest about issues. That is the strength of ConservativeHome, it explores the issues critically, and in doing so has improved the Tory internal debate. If CameroonHome becomes just a platform for “Dave is Great” stories in the same way that LibDemVoice ignores the “Ming Problem” it will be just another boring e-Pravda adjunct of the official party site. We shall see…
