| URL | http://www.libdemvoice.org/ |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | No |
| Type of site | Blog |
| Owner | Stephen Tall, Mark Pack (Co-editors). Helen Duffett (Associate Co-editor). |
| Created by | Rob Fenwick |
| Launched | 2006 |
| Current status | Active |
Liberal Democrat Voice (also known as 'Lib Dem Voice') is a popular political blog, read by over 60,000 individual visitors per month[1] specialising in British politics.
The site was created by Rob Fenwick in September 2006. Since Summer 2007, it has been run by a collective of Liberal Democrat members, activists and bloggers.[2]
The aim of the site is to present views from a range of people and perspectives in the Liberal Democrats. The editorial line is neutral on matters of debate within the party and party selections and elections.
The site conducts surveys[3] which serve as a respectable bellwether of party opinion: mainstream UK press such as The Independent cite these, most notably over the issue of Vince Cable being the preferred candidate to succeed Nick Clegg as party leader.[4] In its most recent 2011 survey, Vince Cable was also voted Lib Dem minister of the year.[5]
The site is rated as the top Liberal Democrat blog by Total Politics for 2011[6] and has been consistently rated by Wikio as the 5th most influential political blog in the UK.[7]
Contents |
Contributors to Liberal Democrat Voice include Lib Dem MPs such as Sarah Teather, Nick Clegg, Chris Huhne, Lynne Featherstone and Andrew Stunell as well as peers such as Chris Rennard and Ros Scott.
The site also features regular polls of Lib Dem members showing where they agree and where they disagree with party policy. The site is therefore a good indicator of mood within the Liberal Democrats.
As well as being a blog which is open to any contributor the site also contains a Liberal Democrat party members-only forum which is used by members as a place for debate and discussion.
Its current co-editors are Stephen Tall and Mark Pack.[8] Tall is currently the Associate Director in the Development Office of the University of Oxford.[9] Pack was ranked 39th "most influential" Liberal Democrat by the Daily Telegraph in 2011.[10] Helen Duffett[11] is an Associate Co-editor and was appointed as the Liberal Democrats' Internal Communications Manager in January 2011.[12]
The growing influence of the Liberal Democrats in Government led to an expansion of efforts to maintain Liberal Democrat Voice. A rotational system of experienced volunteer guest editors were added in December 2011[13] comprising of the following prominent Liberal Democrat bloggers: Caron Lindsay,[14] Prateek Buch,[15] Nick Thornsby,[16] Mark Valladares[17] and Paul Walter.[18]