Tom Watson, blogging MP

By Lance Knobel

I spent an hour yesterday chatting with Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, and, by my reckoning, the first elected national politician to have a real weblog. Tom was first elected to the Commons in June 2001.

We met in the Central Lobby of the Houses of Parliament and Tom took me to the cosy Pugin Room, overlooking the Thames.

Why did Tom start his weblog? “I wanted to develop new forms of political participation, particularly with communities that weren’t really that involved in politics,” he says. Tom says that when he started he had a “vanity website: a big photo of me, with details of my surgery [constituency office] hours”. He quickly recognised that he needed something different.

He’d never even heard of weblogs, but Tom did some searching on the Web for something that would satisfy his needs. “I wanted to convey information very quickly and do it myself. I wanted to be relevant.” He found weblogs.

“For me, it was a huge risk,” he says. “I’ve taken a few hits in diary columns and most of the people in Parliament just don’t get it. But the community I was talking to knew what I was on about and understand.” Tom spends an average of one hour a day on his weblog, which he admits is “a big commitment for an MP”.

Although he didn’t start his weblog for either his constituents or the media, both are beginning to take an interest. A few of Tom’s postings have developed into news stories in the national press, and he says some of his constituents now read the site.

However, it isn’t about electoral advantage. “If I get half a dozen additional votes at the next election because of my blog, I’ll be surprised,” he says. “It’s not a campaign tool. It’s a political ideas tool.”

I wondered whether Tom ever feels constrained about what he can post. “It’s easier on the backbenches,” he says, “but I have been fairly savage about colleagues, probably more so than I would have been in a more public medium. But I don’t feel particularly constrained. I’m trying to give an insight into daily events, not to bare my soul or to provide detailed analysis.”

When prime minister Tony Blair reshuffled his government the other week, some political commentators had singled out Tom for promotion. He reckons that was never on the cards this time around, but “it did leave me wondering what would happen to the blog if I got into government”. The doctrine of collective responsibility – which binds members of the government in public to their joint decisions – would provide some constraint, but Tom believes he’d be able to transform his blog into more of a daily reflection on events.

Tom is no longer unique among MPs. Liberal Democrat MP Richard Allen started his weblog earlier this month. Tom thinks it is significant that both he and Allen have linked to each other and welcomed their joint efforts. “This is a way to lift yourself out of the party political mire,” Tom says. “If you’re blogging, you have to link.”

He believes that more MPs are likely to start blogs. “There will be dozens of MPs blogging by the next election,” he says. “I’m getting readers of mine contacting their MPs, asking why they don’t start a blog.” As others come online, Tom believes the interaction among them will be valuable in debating issues.

But there are definite limits on the blogging activities of Tom and other would-be MP bloggers. At the moment, there is no Wi-Fi in the Palace of Westminster, although Tom thinks it may be installed as part of a current review of facilities. In the chamber of the House itself, however, mechanical and electronic devices are prohibited. And MPs are strictly enjoined from engaging in any activity other than participating in the debate. So don’t expect live blogging from the green benches any time soon.

For all his enthusiasm about blogging, there is a downside for Tom. “A lot of MPs publish their memoirs later in their career and get huge deals for syndication in the papers. So I may be giving away my pension here.”

Discuss this message.

Unless otherwise labeled by its originating author, the content found on this site is made available under the terms of an Attribution/Share Alike Creative Commons license. This page was last updated: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 at 5:56:47 AM.