Friday, February 20, 2009

Top 25 UK Political Blog Twitterers

This list is compiled using the latest available information on the number of people following each blogger's Twitter feed as of 10pm on 19 February. However, as this is the first attempt, please do let me know in the comments if I have missed anyone. If you click on each person's name, you will be led to their Twitter feed. If you want to follow them, just click on the FOLLOW button.

There are 11 right of centre bloggers in the Top 25, 8 left of centre, 2 LibDems, 1 Green and 3 non aligned.

1. Tom Watson 2065
Labour MP & blogger

2. Iain Dale 2061
Modesty forbids

3. Derek Draper 1686
Don't tempt me

4. Guido Fawkes 1183
Anarcho blogger

5. Alastair Campbell 1180
Former spinmeister & new entrant to the new media


6. Andrew Ian Dodge 1031
Libertarian blogger

7. The Fabians 869
Sunder Katwala & the Next left blog

8. John Prescott 822
Old bruiser and newbie new media entrant

9. James Cleverly 778
Tory GLA member & blogger

10. Lynne Featherstone 681
LibDem MP & blogger

11. Steve Green 652
Right wing blogger at the Daily Referendum blog

12. Dave Hill 635
Left of centre blogger on London politics

13. Paul Dennett 580
Unaligned blogger who blogs at A Progressive Viewpoint

14. Mick Fealty 522
Blogs at Brassneck & Slugger O'Toole

15. Jeremy Jacobs 454
Right of centre supporting communications specialist

16. Danvers Baillieu 448
Tory blogger

17. Tom Harris 417
Labour MP & blogger

18. Craig Elder 390
Web editor & Webcameron supremo at CCHQ

19. Will Howells 369
Works at LibDem HQ & writes for LibDem Voice

20. Sadiq Khan 361
Labour MP & Minister

21. Scott Redding 348
Green Party blogger from Coventry

22. Tim Montgomerie 346
Creator of ConservativeHome

23. Dave Cross 346
Blogs at davorg

24. Charlie Beckett 245
Director of POLIS at the LSE

25. Ed Vaizey 245
Tory MP for Wantage and blogger

26. Devil's Kitchen 243
Libertarian swear blogger

Note: I am updating this list throughout the day as I am notified of twitterers I had missed.

36 comments:

Not a sheep said...

Surely LibDems are left of centre, if not where is "the centre"?

Unknown said...

ahem, I have 444 followers on Twitter and a "right of centre" blog (albeit not frequently updated of late - although maybe making this list will encourage me!).

@danversbaillieu

Jason Brown said...

How disappointing I just fall short of the top 20 political bloggers on twitter with 224 followers, it brings back memories of end of term GCSE French report which regularly said “could do better.” If anyone wants to follow me, and the goings on at the Whipped Senseless blog, then head over to twitter.com/Politics_UK.

As an aside I would have thought ether you Iain or Guido would have been top of the list, way to go Tom.

Guido Fawkes said...

I don't actually Twitter, the blog's headline feed is broadcast via Twitter.

Please don't tweet me in expectation of a reply or even to be read.

I use a peer-2-peer system of individualised social media with feature rich media functionality far more sophisticated than Twitter.

It is called email.

scott redding said...

I have 348 followers, and a Green Party blog for the last few years ... the twitter address is @CovGreenParty

Old BE said...

Twitter is the biggest waste of time since Facebook.

scott redding said...

You've put my twitter address as covwatch.

Iain Dale said...

Oops. Corrected.

Events dear boy, events said...

Follow me on Twitter, then I may make one of Iain's lists one day!

Sunder Katwala said...

Hi Iain

"thefabians" (which runs our nextleft blog posts, as well our as twittering from events, etc) has 868 followers on twitter

http://twitter.com/thefabians

Oldrightie said...

Does being a blogtwitter count!

Iain Dale said...

Sunder, I'm really only including individuals rather than group twitters.

Adrian said...

Prezza has 823 followers.

subrosa said...

Iain what about Scotland? Have we got independence already and I haven't noticed? lol

Can I promote myself? http://subrosa-blonde.blogspot.com/

I did twitter you and also suggested http://advancedmediawatch.blogspot.com.

Both are pro-independence blogs written by different generations.

Bond007 said...

Iain - can you put some totals in on Conservative and Labour bloggers?

Iain Dale said...

Subrosa, they may be excellent blogs, but they have bugger all to do with Twitter.

Bond007, I would if I understood the question.

scott redding said...

Oh, and Dave Cross needs to be corrected to, he's on twitter @davorg

Paul said...

As of 11:15 a.m. today I have 580 followers on Twitter.

You've listed my blog as "Right of Centre" on the Total Politics directory but I think of myself as unaligned really...

@pauldennett
http://aprogressiveviewpoint.blogspot.com

Colm said...

@grantshapps has 498

Matt Wardman said...

@mattwardman 215
@markpack 240

Anonymous said...

Sorry to rain on everybody's parade but I do not give a flying wotsit about 'twitter'.

This is all one boig pathetic step too far - not leas 'my ones bigger than your ones' rubbish.

You can follow yourselves down the drain as far as I am concerned.

Its one thing to have an opinion and publish it - but all this 'hey look at me I'm brushing my teeth' shite is just appalling.

I mean who the hell cares just what the wotsit the cheap nasty odious misogynistic barsteward Prescott is doing?

Sunder Katwala said...

Iain

OK, its your list, so the Fabians will try to get over your twittering us offside (Russian linesman?).

But what is interesting is that your top 7 contains three Labour bloggers who weren't (I think) either blogging or twittering six weeks ago.

Iain Dale said...

Sunder, I have had a rethink and I am putting you in as most of your Twitters so seem to be related to the blog.

Dave Cross said...

I twitter at davorg, but I blog at davblog. It's confusing, I know :-)

Sunder Katwala said...

Iain

That's rather kind of you. Your list now captures another difference between left and right.

You have four of the first five Labour and left twitterers who have a pre-internet presence, fame and/or notoreity (Prescott, Campbell, Fabians and of course Mr Draper) and are now (and recently) trying to translate that to a new online presence, along with a couple (Tom Watson, Tom Harris) who while they have been MPs for some time are well known particularly because of their commitment to internet politics and engagement.

By contrast, your right-wing names (including yourself, as well as Guido, Tim Montomerie) are fairly thought of as political presences or 'brands' (or whatever the accurate term would be that) that have been developed to prominence primarily online (though that influence obviously then extends from the internet into eg party debates). In some cases, obviously there are grey areas too, but it does seem to me a difference between your right and left lists.

So perhaps this tells us something, though I don't know what it is.

Sunder Katwala said...

Iain,

By the way, we're at thefabians: you've currently linked in the main article somebody else, who confusingly has fabians. (Obviously not very urgent, and I probably won't, as it happens, be setting Schillings on them, but thought useful to flag it).

Jim Jepps said...

I notice george galloway has 412 followers

http://twitter.com/georgegalloway

Iain Dale said...

But he doesn't have a blog, does he?!

Jim Jepps said...

Thankfully - no :)

Victor, NW Kent said...

Is Twitter a bit like collecting trading cars - a totally useless and instantly obsolete exercise?

I don't even have a camera in my mobile phone and couldn't care less about that either.

Alberto Nardelli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
OBC News said...

I really don't think many people will be 'Twittering' 2 or 3 years from now. Blue Eyes (10:06) is spot on.

Dominic Campbell said...

Nice to see you've embraced twitter so wholeheartedly after you were so "amused" by my use at:

http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2008/06/there-is-no-such-thing-as-privacy.html

;-)

BTW you might also want to include:

http://twitter.com/leaderlistens
http://twitter.com/cllrtweeps

And reference:

http://tweetminster.co.uk

Richard Gadsden said...

I think this just shows how small the UK political community is.

Wil Wheaton (ex-Star Trek actor) has 120,720 followers, Stephen Fry has 221,674 - just picking from people I follow.

Plato said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Obnoxio The Clown said...

Er ... I have 1586 followers, Iain ...