The 10 most influential political blogs right now
By TruePublica: It is a difficult task to rank the best bloggers in any specialist field. This is especially so in the world of politics because of the sheer scale of variation of ideas and ideologies. The criteria being used here is that the blog must be British based, commenting predominantly on British politics, is not directly associated with the mainstream media, is not politically funded and has a high rank in terms of unique visitor numbers. Visitor numbers have been averaged over the last three months. For the sake of unbiased placements, there are three left-leaning, three right-leaning and four broadly centrist. The order of placement in this list is alphabetical.
ConservativeHome
ConservativeHome was started in 2005 by Tim Montgomerie to champion the interests of grassroots Tory members. Independent of the Conservative Party but very supportive of it, ConservativeHome publishes a daily round-up of the important news and analyses the latest developments in the party in the Tory Diary. Encouraging debate and conversation, ConservativeHome has an entire section dedicated to commenting where readers can interact and share their thoughts on the latest news.
Frequency – up to 15 posts a day. Average visitors – approx 1 million a month.
Craig Murray
Iain Dale
Frequency – about 3 to 4 posts a week. Average visitors approx 70,000 a month
LabourList
Launched in 2009, LabourList has become the leading place for news, views and debate about the Labour Party. Independent of the Labour Party but supportive of it, LabourList brings together readers and contributors, from MPs to grassroots activists. LabourList aims to create a forum for discussion, encouraging debate for readers and allowing them to comment on the latest political news. It provides a range of views and opinions.
Frequency approx 10 a week. Average visitors – approx 275,000 a month.
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Left Foot Forward
Will Straw, the son of former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, is the founder of Left Foot Forward, which has been called the most influential progressive blog by Total Politics. Left Foot Forward is the home of political news and comment for progressives. They provide hard-hitting evidence-based analysis of British politics, policy, and current affairs.
Frequency – about 15 posts a week. Average visitors – approx 70,000 a month.
order-order.com
Guido Fawkes: This is a right-wing thoroughbred. The website was described by The Daily Telegraph as “one of Britain’s leading political blog sites” and The Sun on Sunday newspaper published a weekly Guido Fawkes column from 2013 to 2016. The man behind it is Paul Staines – a former member of the Committee for a Free Britain, a shadowy organisation funded by Sir James Goldsmith and Rupert Murdoch. The Guido Fawkes blog is impossible to ignore because it breaks some interesting political stories. After it revealed his emails laying out plans to smear leading Tory and other politicians, Gordon Brown’s spin chief, Damian McBride, had to leave Downing Street. Guido Fawkes likes to give the impression of being anti-establishment in the broadest sense and on occasions can have a go at the Tories too but when the chips are down, it is true blue through and through and can have on occasions a particularly venomous mindset.
Frequency – about 50 posts a week. Average visitors – approx 1.45 million a month.
Politics.co.uk
The journalists at politics.co.uk produce their stories from deep within the corridors of power in Westminster, where they were the first digital journalists to gain access to the lobby. It is an impartial political website with no political affiliation, which prides itself on standing out as an independent voice in a landscape where the norm is to nail your colours to the mast.
Frequency about 7 posts per week. Average visitors approx 550,000 a month
Political Betting
Founded in 2004 by Mike Smithson, PoliticalBetting.com is a platform for political gamblers and others interested in forecasting political outcomes. With a background in journalism and politics, Mike has combined two of his passions into a successful blog, packed with insightful analysis, the latest stats and results of recent polls. PoliticalBetting.com is a must-read for anyone betting on the ever-changing world of politics, and even if you’re not the gambling type there’s plenty of posts to keep you in the Westminster loop.
Frequency – about 15 posts a week. Average visitors approx 475,000 a month
Slugger O’Toole
Slugger O’Toole was set up in 2002 by Mick Fealty to focus primarily on Northern Irish politics but over the years the blog has grown to cover issues in the Republic of Ireland, Britain as well as the rest of the world. Slugger O’Toole believes diversity of opinion is essential to a reliable view of any problem and Mick does just that with his blog, encouraging contributions in Irish and Welsh as well as English, and hosting an intelligent dialogue on a range of important and controversial issues. It brings readers accurate reporting combined with honest and informed analysis rather than balance.
Frequency – about 20 posts a week. Average visitors approx 200,000 a month
UK Polling Report
Anthony Wells from the polling organization YouGov blogs at UK Polling Report. He analyzes the data from the latest poll reports on everything from approval ratings of the actions of government to the popularity of Brexit and all of its fallout.
Frequency – about 2 posts a month. Average visitors approx 300,000 a month
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