With the General Election fast approaching, a multitude of related Internet sites have sprung-up.
http://news.uk.msn.com/news/default.asp will take you to the Microsoft News Decision 97 site. Microsoft News is the first on-line team to secure a Lobby pass for an on-line journalist. Nick Assinger, who has been political editor for the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, has decided that the Net is the way forward. The appointment of such a senior political journalist demonstrates the high quality this particular site is aiming to achieve. There is a detailed news section, a polls’ page and space for visitors to the site to have a say. This site is very clear and simple to navigate; it is an excellent source of current information.
For those who want a broader and more historical approach to British Politics, Julian White’s British Politics Page, http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/po/table/brit/newbrit.htm, offers an extensive list of political sites on the Web. This directory has its uses, it has information on obscure areas of the political arena, but it is very difficult to navigate.
For a simpler overview of the Election, the on-line newspapers are worth checking-out. The Times election site can be visited via http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/home.html?1029501. This site is basically taken directly from the print archives but the unique capabilities of the Net are not exploited. Although the key political stories and features of the last few weeks can be accessed, and there is a good links section. The Guardian, however, offers a much better service. http://election.guardian.co.uk is where you will find the latest poll results, an extensive guide to constituencies, a history of all the pre-war elections and current political news.
The first British General election site GE 97, reviewed on Newsline at its launch Web Site Of The Week – General Election 97 is still an excellent site for political junkies. It can be found at http://www.ge97.co.uk and offers in-depth news and analysis in the run-up to polling day.
It is difficult to tell some of these sites apart, Election 1997 is at http://www.election.co.uk and again offers an interactive element, features, constituency profiles and an A to Z of British politics.
All of these sites are of a very high quality, but the best are those that exploit the interactive nature of the Internet and offer both a historical and a current overview.
