Good Lord

The legend known as the Irregular Blogger, the linguanaut or plain old Damon Lord is coming to visit Prague next week. In Cardiff Conservative Future circles, Damon is well known for being an eternal student and a fun bloke. His post on how Facebook discriminates against Gay Lords was a particular joy.

Damon tells me that he has a particular interest in Czech culture and history, so I have suggested showing him some historic sights. Attached are a couple of snaps from the Vysehrad Castle area which I am looking forward to introduce to Damon and Angie.

As for this weekend, I am heading back to the UK where I plan to meet a range of Midlands bloggers including some people who could damage their livelihood if caught blogging nasty anonymous bloggers.

Congratulations to Rachel Joyce

Splendid news has come in overnight. Fellow blogger and occasional commenter at this site Rachel Joyce has been selected as the Conservative PPC for Harrow West. Married mother of two Rachel has worked as a doctor in the NHS for over 20 years and has cut back her medical work to devote some of her time to helping the Conservative Party.

Given her blog tag line of "evidence-based common sense politics", you won't be surprised to learn that I like both the emphasis and content of her politics. At least as importantly, for a seat like Harrow West (target no 179) is a winning vision. Similarly to Keely Rogers Birmingham Northfield PPC (target 197) ,who I have now had the pleasure to meet briefly, Rachel has palpably got the right attitude in spades. Congratulations and best of luck, Rachel.

Blogpower Awards Online

Below is a picture of "me" at the venue of the Blogpower awards ceremony. These awards will be taking place in Second Life. The time is 2pm British time on Sunday 1 July. Any online and offline friends are welcome to attend. If you don't have a Second Life account, please register and set one up entirely free of charge. Once you're set up, you can teleport to the location using this link. Our generous host, Tom Paine has more on his blog.

Although I don't plan to spend much time on Second Life before the awards (so apologies in advance if I appear a little clumsy there), I shall certainly be in attendance. I've done a bit of exploring. Despite finding myself alone when I visited them, I found the architectural areas the most interesting. Second Life provides us with the opportunity to "visit" and even furnish a building before it's actually built and surely has the potential to be an incredible marketing tool for real life property developments - especially overseas ones. A few of the clubs I visited look like fun, too. Does anybody have any more Second Life suggestions?

Nadine Invites Me To Take Another Bite Out Of Brown

Over a week ago Matt Wardman tagged me with a Brown meme.

1st Generation

I completed the meme and tagged eight people from across the political blogosphere.

2nd Generation

Whereas the Labour bloggers I tagged entered the water quietly, Lib Dem activist James Graham caused a fair old splash as his tag was taken up with gusto by fellow Lib Dems. On the right, Arleen at the Regalis blog took up the challenge with a post dripping with disdain. I'd like to note that Arleen is the only person I know who makes Iain Dale appear disengaged from facebook.

3rd Generation

Anyway, from there, my old blogging buddy Benedict White focused on tax, spending and the welfare system.

4th Generation

Iain Dale put in a good word for his little chipmunk.

5th Generation

Nadine Dorries MP called for Hazel to be sacked.

6th Generation

And so the meme loops back to me. For the short-term prospects of the country, for once in his life I'd like to see Brown being straightforward and not being a control freak. In terms of helping the Tories get back in for a better future, he's doing just fine. I'm not tagging anybody, but I'd like to remind Paul Burgin and West Brom Blogger to take up my previous tag.

Conservative Future Working Life Conference

On July 21/22 I'm going to be running a few group sessions at the Conservative Future Working Life Conference in my hometown of Birmingham on the theme of blogging. I plan to start with a brief overview of some recent academic research into the profiles, motivations and attitudes of leading right-wing bloggers in the UK. We'll go on to discuss practical blogging pitfalls and I expect participants to leave with the tools and confidence to blog.

Teaching is always a good way of learning and it's been quite good fun doing research on the internet for this. Without going over the top, I have been trying to distill the key practical skills for a political blogger. Imho, if you can improve your proficiency in any of these areas, it will probably make a noticeable difference to your blogging capabilities.

Writing - Croydonian has a style which is concise and yet engaging. I like Kerron's conversational style of writing, too. How easy you are to read is a crucial factor in how successful you blog can be.

Arguing - A course in critical thinking wouldn't go amiss - if only to make yourself aware of your opponent's likely spoiling tactics. Dizzy's good at arguing. Although, if you're too good, you won't get any comments (joke).

Subject Matter Expertise - If, like Iain Dale, you live and breathe your blog topic, that helps. Managing contacts and news sources ain't a bad idea (check out what Matt Wardman does)

Public Relations - How do you market yourself to achieve the audience that you're looking for? I think I'll tap Ellee for some smart ideas.

Psychology - You learn a lot about people when you blog. I doubt I'll ever be as skilled as a pro, but I'm not averse to picking up insights from Dr Michelle Tempest's blog.

The weekend itself looks excellent and there are many superb speakers planned. If you're not signed up yet, get your skates on. Link. Does anyone have any relevant thoughts or resources that they'd like to share?

Conservative Home Best Newcomer

Celebrating Winning Best Newcomer

To have been presented with a Conservative Home award by the delightful Nadine Dorries would have been a wonderful moment, but I could hardly justify a trip to London on the off-chance. Having blogged since last summer I hardly feel like a newcomer, but the criterion for the newcomer tag was to have started in 2006.

Other Winners

Iain Dale was a deserving overall winner and has put a mini-report on his blog. As well as being a fan of Archbishop Cranmer's blog, I am particularly pleased at the success of Birmingham University Conservative Forum blog. What many people may not realise is that as well as being very readable, the BUCF blog has also been a springboard for unprecedented Conservative successes in the guild elections at their university. Daniel, Joseph and the team deserve the plaudits.

The Next Generation Of Conservative Bloggers

It's been smashing to see the likes of Daniel and Matthew Sinclair (formerly of LSE) develop their political identities online and I would definitely like to see more young Conservatives blogging. Not only should the British Conservative movement be appealing to this generation, but it should be engaged with and influenced by them, too. I think it's notable that of the 10 Conservative blogs from the West Midlands that I link to, seven are younger than me and none of them are much older than me (I'm 32). Let's keep the momentum going.

Ghost Cabinet

A different Cabinet.



Watch this space over the next few days.

Best Newcomer?

I am honoured to receive a Conservative Home nomination for the best Conservative newcomer blog of 2006. I'm short-listed alongside a friend of mine who runs the erudite Croydonian blog, so I won't try to influence voting which will be done by internet polling.

Now seems as good a time as any to outline my blogging plans for the coming months. I have always said that the best thing about political blogging has been the network of like-minded friends I have accumulated along the way. Indeed, in a week's time a new collobarative political blog will be launched of which I will be a part. In itself this project may impinge on how many political posts I post here. But to be honest that is an excuse of sorts.

After nine months of fairly prolific blogging, you can expect less frequent posting for a time from me. Call it keeping powder dry/pacing myself or whatever you like, but the big prize is kicking Labour out and I don't expect that fight to heat up for some time yet. That's when I'll be back firing on all cylinders.

Yes Minister

I love Yes Minister and have all the early series on dvd at home in Prague. The guys at Tory Radio have put some really cracking posts together of late. This on is my favourite. Had me laughing anyway. So my challenge to the readership is to answer the question what blogs do you read and what does that say about you?

Collaborative Blogging

For me, a major benefit of blogging is networking and this brings me on to what I think will be the next identifiable phase of blogging. Collaboration. The only thing that makes me uneasy about this prediction is how much ego drives blogging. Most of the big political blogs are run by one person. However, I think this model will be vigorously challenged in the near future.

It is already noticeable that bloggers are collaborating in a variety of ways. A successful example is the magazine style Pickled Politics that currently has nine regular contributors, but looser affiliations such as Blogpower also seem to achieve synergies. Campaign blogs such as Anyone But Ken (all six contributors are on my blogroll) also appear very suited to collaboration.

I don't want to get too distracted ahead of the May elections, but once they have passed, I would like to work with other right-wing bloggers on some collaborative projects. All ideas gratefully received. On the subject of networking, I am meeting an Icelandic Conservative for lunch tomorrow to discuss a blog that he is looking to set up. Should be fun.

Catch Up

Ok, I'm back sooner than I promised, but I've just booked a week's holiday in the first part of April when I will get a couple of friends to guest for me - I can't keep taking breaks.

Real World

Nice weather in Prague and getting out and about a bit more has been fun. As a result of a chance meeting, I might be able to land a little part-time job here in Prague which will be easier to fit in around blogging than my last position. Last night, I went to chess club for the first time in a while. It's really lively there these days and there's always a good conversation to be had. It's been mentioned by others that Prague has something of a sordid reputation which was rather cemented when two strangers I was chatting with independently admitted to running successful porn sites - yes I did feel like a gooseberry. More disturbing were the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that I overheard several regulars floating. One chap was harking back to Jewish bankers and 15th Century Spanish history (or at least his version of it). Your typical Bush-hating Leftie really wants to believe these conspiracies. This sort of stuff borders on madness in my opinion.

May Elections

I'm about to book flights back to the UK to help with the May elections. I shall probably manage a week of campaigning before the elections and I am still finalising my top secret plans. When I was initially preparing my ideas concerning where to help, my first thoughts were to work in certain "target seats", but as I've been evaluating things I have become a bit more discerning. Firstly, I am going to help friends even if winning would be a Herculean task - moving the vote to within striking distance is a very worthwhile exercise in my opinion. Secondly, although I'm quite happy to trudge the streets for hours if I'm freeing up the candidate's time for him or her to knock doors or undertake other electioneering or council activities, I am not going to break my back delivering for a lazy councillor.

Other Stuff

I've been asked to do a presentation on blogging to some fellow Tories in the Summer. Anecdotally, the benefits of blogging can be quite unexpected and bloggers' reasons for continuing to blog are often quite different to the reasons that they started, so I'll probably explore that theme a bit. Martine Martin's research project into right-leaning blogs should be finished soon, which might provide some insights based on evidence. Anyway, on this theme I would certainly appreciate any tips or advice from my readers.

18 Doughty Street Pyrotechnics

Last night's 18 Doughty Street Blogger TV was fun. It has been uploaded despite the strong language. Listen to how many namechecks I get. Alex Hilton of Recess Monkey seems to be struggling with reality. He reckons

- half of the abuse he gets on his site is from me.
- he doesn't mind people abusing him and doesn't delete comments or ban people who abuse him
- he's going to ban me.

Nice logic. Fact is that apart from wishing him good luck for last night and pointing out a clumsy doppleganging attempt, I've put seven words on his site since his Maggie Thatcher debacle from over two weeks ago. The words were "hitch the post lies preferred I by". Considering that Alex is understandably one of the most abused political bloggers on the Internet, I'm pretty happy to be making such an impact on him with so little effort. Watch the show. Alex's demeanour was an insight into the bunker mentality that has begun to overcome the ruling party.

Blogging With Intent

When bloggers I respect get a bee in his or her bonnet, I tend to listen. There are several storms brewing in the blogosphere. Here's two.

Morleygate

Ian Grey is a Blogpower member and an occasional visitor to this blog. Ian lives in Morley which is located several miles south-west of Leeds. This council is located in a safe seat for Labour and Ed Balls will be parachuted in take over from Colin Challen, the incumbent MP at the next election. In 2004, (following the resignation of a Labour party councillor) Ian Grey won a by-election in the Morley ward of Elmfield. Ian stood as an independent and beat the BNP candidate as Labour slumped into third place. In fact the majority of Morley councillors are independent. Ian has his own opinions and isn't somebody to take the path of least resistance for an easy life. He is very unhappy with his council colleages for stifling debate on contentious decisions and has set up a fresh blog to deal with Morleygate.

Dan Coffill case

Inspector Gadget is one of the most highly respected police bloggers. Lately, he has been moved to blog on the story of Dan Coffill, an off-duty Lewisham policeman, who has been reduced to a vegetative state by two thugs (who have just had their sentences reduced on appeal). Dan's family feel completely let down by the justice system and have been in touch with the Police Inspector. He is ready to release further information on this case. If you thought the doctors were angry with the government over at Dr Crippen's, try looking at the comments from our police officers over at Gadget's place.

Happy Anniversary Stephen Harper

On February 6 2006, Stephen Harper became the first Canadian Conservative premier for 12 years having united the opposition and ran a strong campaign which included a "policy a day" initiative (British Conservatives take note). He has now been in power for 400 days.

Stephen Harper is a trained economist and before becoming a national leader many thought that he was more suited to being a backroom boy. His successful spell in charge has rebuffed this notion and he has a keen group of young conservative supporters many of whom share Stephen's passion for ice hockey.

Toronto Tories are a group of students. Purpletory is from Ontario, aged eighteen and is a keen rock fan. BC Tory is another youngster and has been going since 2005. Darkbluetory and Saskatory both started blogging in the month when Stephen Harper gained power.

Don't know what the deal is with all these colours, but my favourite name of the lot is the prolific Red Tory. There's a very interesting thread going at his place about Harper's lack of appeal to women.

Astro-Turf Economics

Getting The Staff

I can’t find a decent astro-turfer for love nor money. Some time ago, I advertised. The main problem I have found is one of too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Everyone wants to have their own blog. What I would like to see would be some sort of apprenticeship scheme where people can start as a blog commenter - if they’re any good they can get trained up as an astro-turfer. Only accomplished astro-turfers should be allowed to have their own blogs.

Market Failure

The most important reason for market failure in the astro-turfing and sock-puppet market is government interference. Why would an astro-turfer work for private blogs when they can get a cushy deal working for the government? As this thread shows the standard of astro-turfing in the public sector is risible. But, nobody ever gets sack – in fact the worse job they do, the more overtime they can justify. I recently made the mistake of recruiting a couple of turfers from the public sector. They didn’t last a week. One kept calling himself PT’s sockpuppet and the other kept rebutting me or started mowing her favourite bits of cyberspace (women’s sites).

Are Vouchers The Answer?

How can a private blog owner compete with that? I’m not advocating that all blogs should get allocated their own government astro-turfer, but there is a case for some sort of voucher system to subsidise private endeavour. Once a blogger gets a certain amount of traffic they should start receiving astro-turfing vouchers to spend (or trade) as they wish.

Certified Astro-Turfers

Is it unreasonable for me to expect a hired astro-turfer or sock-puppet to manage the estate for a few hours without having someone looking over their shoulder? The answer is obvious, but to get there we need a far greater level of professionalism in the industry. To facilitate this I support the idea that astro-turfers should need to pass an exam so that you can be sure that they know their ad hominem attacks from their trolling before you employ them. Anyway, I’ll throw it over to you. Let me hear your ideas for raising astro-turfing standards.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good

Conservatives Abroad kindly asked me to write a guest article for them. It's the first in a series from different locations outside the UK. It's a marginally better post than the pap I put up on this site. Take a look.

The Bad

My boss is unexpectedly visiting tomorrow. I think he wants to see what I've been doing for the last six months or so. It had all been going so well. Does anyone have any good excuses or am I going to have to cause a diversion at Prague airport again?

The Ugly

Faced with the above issues, I need to book a train out of Prague. Whilst I'm away, my old friend the famed political blogger Mutley the dog is going to keep the blog warm. Fortunately, he knows a lot about Prague as demonstrated by his last post.

Guest Blogging

I am feeling a bit lazy, so if any right-leaning or apolitical bloggers would like to do a guest blog post or two in the next few days, I would welcome that. I am also trying to put something together for the Conservatives Abroad blog which is another blog worth checking out. Anyway, if you want to do a post or two, mail me on praguetory@googlemail.com.

Losing An Argument? – Break The Golden Rule Of Blogging

COUNCILLOR BOB PIPER

A long time ago, I dropped a note to Cllr Bob Piper. Soon after, he got in a whole bunch of trouble and lost the online argument. Impolitely, he passed the name in my email to every online Leftie he could muster. In a typical example of Lefties trying to equalise downwards, Bob attempted to out me on his climbdown post and then only retracted in return for technical assistance. Of course, he has named me since, causing me to follow through on my promise to publish his angry email threats.

IRISH UNITY?

And check out this recent double-header from Unity and the blogging policeman Tim "Manic" Ireland when they were out of their depth in the argument.

The inaccuracies in your comments about me are laughable. - Praguetory

Fair enough - I’ve checked and you’re not the Dominic Fisher cited as co-author on a number of ESOL text books. Do excuse me for having accused you of achieving something with your life. It’s not a mistake I’ll make again. - Unity

LOL - Dominic, your bluster means nothing here… stop wasting it... - Tim Ireland

TOM WATSON MP

My comment on yesterday's post by Dizzy’s hit a MASSIVE nerve with MP Tom Watson. As if to prove he can dish it out, but he can’t take it, he did an entry outing me last night. Me, I was celebrating Valentine’s Night, but I suppose Tom’s been married for a while. How does the saying go? "You can take the man out of the Whip’s Office, but you can’t take the Whip’s Office out of the man."

CONCLUDING COMMMENTS

Of course, apart from possibly endangering the livelihood of the blogger, this behaviour doesn’t improve democracy. I had to dive in to make this precise point over at Labour blogger Political Hack’s place only a few days ago. Outing anonymous bloggers are the actions of a brute who has lost the argument. Tom also did a piece on how to spread an internet rumour. I’ve got one involving Tom Watson, SS and an elderly Tory MP. I’ve held it back until now. I bet it will come out in due course though.

Interesting to think that the idiots above want bloggers to conform to a set of rules. Feel free to tell them where to go.

9am Update - Tom's mate Mike Ion is up early. Anyone who would listen to Mike, doesn't have me on their blogroll anyway, but thanks for the plug, Mike. I wander if we can expect any more spontaneous postings today?

10 Links To Add

In alphabetical order;

1. Arthurian Legend - another lesser-spotted Tory in Islington to complement rather than compete with Newmania legend.

2. Devil’s Kitchen – a deep and free thinker. Despises Socialism.

3. Dr Crippen – a blog about the NHS that has achieved international recognition.

4. English Boat –a blogging concept stunning in its concept and delivery.

5. Jeremy Jacobs - Asked politely for a link and has a fun and prolific site.

6. Michelle Tempest - Brilliant blog. Someone who’s taking action to improve the future of health services in the UK.

7. Peter Hitchens - Dislikes Cameron. Hates Labour. Despises being told what to do. He’s no angel.

8. Rebel Yell - A disgruntled Conservative. An honest and personal account. Just wish he’d call a truce with Mr Newman and wouldn’t link to the damned awful Howard League.

9. Suz Lamido - Finally lifting the (ahem) lid on the Lib Dems.

10. Theo Spark - I like his devil-may-care attitude and his excellent satyre.

I think I'll need some new categories for some of the above.

Success Breeds Success

I've reneged quickly on my attempt to avoid blogging about blogging, but I did say I would comment on the poll results.



Site Stats

Above is a chart of this site's stats. The number of hits has increased steadily by 50% a month since this blog started. Maintain that rate of growth and I'll be getting more than a million hits a month by the end of 2007! As I've said before, blogging is a means to an end, one of several interests of mine and I have no ambition to be a uber-blogger. Nevertheless, I fully expect to hit new peaks in the coming months and I will be especially active around the time of the May elections.

These stats dovetail quite nicely with the site poll (which I'll keep running for a while) that shows that about half of the visitors to this site only started looking at political blogs in the course of the last year. I think that a large part of the growth in this site's popularity is linked to the increasing popularity of the medium as a whole.

Referrers - Dale style

Each month Iain Dale lists those websites referring over 100 visits. Here's my somewhat shorter list for January

1. Guido 2. Iain Dale 3. Croydonian 4. DizzyThinks 5. Biased BBC 6. Laban Tall

Interestingly all the above are rightwing bloggers, although Labour-supporting Mars Hill was 7th with 91 visits. How's it going with your webstats? Is there a general rise happening?