Stuart Bruce raised an interesting question recently: do we respect our MPs more when we get to know them better?
Stuart was commenting on the latest Edelman trust barometer report. His point was that we've not lost trust in our local MP by anything like the same degree we've lost faith in MPs generally trust.
Stuart went on to say:
"A few years ago I did some research into people’s knowledge, trust and support of their local MP. What we found out is the more a person knew about their MP, the higher the levels of trust and support. Interestingly this was despite party affiliation. You could find people who were firm Labour voters who ‘admired’ their local Conservative MP because they knew what they did for them. For firm supporters this wouldn’t make a difference to how they voted, but for undecided and weak voters it could frequently make a difference."
I agree completely. My local MP is Cheryl Gillan. You may remember that she was the MP who claimed for dog food on her expenses. While I'm certainly not a natural Conservative supporter, I do regard Cheryl as a good constituency MP. This meant that the dog food incident did not affect my opinion of her. (The fact it was for a trifling amount also helped!)
I also believe that MPs who make a real effort to communicate with constituents will be better regarded. This is where blogging and Twitter might make a difference. I enjoy reading tweets and posts from Kerry McCarthy, Labour's MP for Bristol East. in the post above, she refutes the suggestion she should be working not tweeting. As she says:
"...basically what Twitter comes down to, is this: It's about communicating. It's about engaging with people. It's a conversation, a dialogue, and anyone can join in. And don't we politicians get criticised all the time for not doing that?"
Amen to that.
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