UK government under fire for web apathy

With a UK general election perhaps only weeks away, MPs are failing in their attempts to use the internet to reverse voter apathy, academics claimed today.

According to a study led by Dr Stephen Ward, of the Oxford Internet Institute, with Wainer Lusoli, of Salford University, and Rachel Gibson, of the Australian National University, fewer than two per cent of regular internet users have visited the personal websites of their MPs.

Despite initial high expectations and widespread public support for a range of online services and initiatives from MPs, the House of Commons and the Scottish and Welsh legislatures, public interest in such services has been extremely disappointing, the study found.

It added that there remains a "large gap" between this apparent support and the actual use of internet technologies. For example, people still have concerns about casting votes online three years after the first e-voting pilots in the UK.

The research, based on an NOP survey of almost 2,000 people in December 2004, found that few people use the internet to contact Britain's legislative bodies. Of those who do, most are existing political activists already well known in parliamentary circles.

Some 40 per cent of internet users visit news and current affairs websites, compared with 28 per cent who look up their local council, and 21 per cent who go online to government departments and agencies.

By contrast, only five per cent of internet users have visited the House of Commons website in the past year, while a combined three per cent visited those of the devolved legislatures of Wales and Scotland.

When it comes to conveying our views and grievances to MPs, the telephone is still by far the favourite method, preferred by 39 per cent in the survey. Letter writing comes a distant second (20 per cent), followed by email (12 per cent) and face-to-face contact (11 per cent).

However, the study found a definite swing to email as an initial means of contact, especially for 18 to 34 year-olds, particularly students (37 per cent) and graduates (20 per cent).

In line with previous research, only 69 per cent of those surveyed claimed to know the party of their MP, while less than half (43 per cent) of the electorate were actually able to name them.

"Our survey provides a sobering antidote to the hype that often surrounds the role of the internet in the political world, but we should not write off new technologies as being of no consequence," said Dr Ward.

"The findings show that there is potential to attract and deepen engagement, particularly among younger people.

"Simply adding new electronic means of communication to old structures, or providing information online, will not automatically spark interest.

"Publicising and marketing online initiatives might be a start, but politicians and institutions need to actively attract people outside the usual suspects by demonstrating that their contribution is valued and listened to.

"Without that, the danger remains that e-politics will simply exacerbate the current situation by amplifying those voices already prominent in the parliamentary system."