A New Media Landscape for U.K. politics.

When Theresa May called a general election in the U.K. seven weeks ago, I doubt that Jeremy Corbyn himself imagined he would be welcoming ‘an incredible result’ for Labour on the morning of the count. But the result demonstrated how the traditional media and most political commentators are struggling to read the intentions of the electorate. 

Since he was elected leader of his party by popular vote in 2015, Corbyn has been pilloried by people of all stripes (most of the shadow front bench resigned in protest) and no Labour leader had ever been criticised as fiercely by the left-leaning press. He has been labelled ‘unelectable’ and for most commentators, was the kind of old-school socialist who could never be a proper fit for Number 10. And yet, here he is, the leader of a revitalised Labour who will lead the party into the next election as a genuine contender. 

                Yes, Theresa May had a poor campaign but the result was still a major surprise.  And I wonder does it give more credence to the view that many of the people who used to help shape opinions are spending too much time in their own echo chambers listening to and hearing from similar voices? Watching the BBC’s online newsfeed last night with its minute-by-minute updates punctuated by snappy comments on twitter, snatches of interviews, Instagram photographs and statistics, it seemed to me that the world of social media was an endlessly lively place full of wits and nuggets of information. So maybe it’s no wonder that those who make the predictions are so regularly wrong-footed these days – it must be hard to get out and talk to potential voters when your phone is so alive with colourful activity.

        Regardless of whether or not Corbyn ultimately becomes prime minister, perhaps his greatest achievement was to effectively mobilise the youth vote (who of course is more plugged in to social media than anyone else). Many of them were understandably browned off by a referendum result that appeared to curtail their future options but Labour’s promise to abolish tuition fees and their more caring agenda obviously struck a chord and resulted in a surge in the registration of twentysomethings.  This was a section of the population that traditional media sources such as the hitherto highly influential popular press didn’t take seriously because they rarely vote in large numbers.   The days of ‘It was The Sun what won it’ are gone and the real power is with modern publishers Google and Facebook