David Porter » Entries tagged with "Parliamentary elections"
British Election Circuses Set for Digital Revolution
Mayoral, Councillor, Police Commissioners, European and Parliamentary elections are entertaining shows, but will technology improve or ruin them? This article first published on Suite 101, 7 May 2012. In some ways like the USA, yet in so many others, very different, the British electoral system is an amalgam of how it has been for two hundred years, how it has been done for most political activists’ lifetimes and the odd experiment/concession in modernity, like postal votes virtually on demand. People are interested/care passionately or are indifferent. But often it appears that the only people who get really excited about all the elections are the media. Yet, everybody who thinks about it appreciates how important democratic decisions are in the lives of every single citizen. City/district and council, parish elections occur every year in some … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
The Party May Soon Be Over for the Political Broadcast
The BBC could call time on the well-established tradition of political parties broadcasting their views – free – on radio and TV. This article first published on Suite 101, 7 December 2011. After the poor interest in the badly timed elections in November for Police and Crime Commissioners, this article could be even more relevant. The phrase, ‘there now follows a party political broadcast on behalf of the …. Party’ was often sufficient to send millions of viewers scurrying to make tea or search for the remote. When there was only BBC and ITV on screens, both showed the broadcast simultaneously. Now, next Budget Day, around March, is when listeners and viewers will no longer get a 5 minute statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining the fiscal and tax plans … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101