Has the net been used much by political parties during this election

A. Campaigning for votes by all of the main political parties has been carried out in a very traditional fashion during the run up to the 2001 Election (7 June) ' with the exception of some hurried personalised emails sent out in the final days. However, Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all have very comprehensive and easy to navigate websites full of information on party manifestos, campaigning, political interviews etc, which may influence the way people vote ' but it will be�difficult to monitor how much information available on the Internet influences voting.

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Labour declared in 1997 that it was pro-Internet expansion and has since set up an e-envoy to oversee its e-commerce initiatives.�It has also installed more computers in schools and initiated the opening of hundreds of UK Online portals (the first 600 opened in September and Labour hopes to have 6000 by the end of 2002). These give people without personal computers the chance to surf the Internet. Sixty per cent of libraries now have Internet access too. From this activity it is easy to tell that Labour has embraced the concept of the Internet and tried to incorporate it and use its power to its advantage.

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But it has also come across a lot of criticism for dragging its feet in supporting and promoting broadband. So, you'd expect such an Internet savvy party to have a savvy website ' and it does to a certain extent. Its pages are very clear (with simple black text on white background, or white text out of red blocks), it contains huge amounts of information (manifestos, policies, latest news) and it gets straight to the point - it has a very cool map on the home page where you simply type in your postcode to find out what Labour has done in your area since it was elected to power. Besides this you can view all the election broadcasts from the campaign; send free text messages to encourage people to vote Labour via the site; watch news coverage you may have missed, access its video archive and get full biographical details on all Labour election candidates.

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The site is very banner led with lots of photos in the shape of banner ads across the top of the page, which are striking if somewhat repetitive and there are far too many statistics everywhere.

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If you're after tacky gifts you can always visit Labour's online shop it does a great line in jewellery, diaries, mugs etc.

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Conservatives

Blue is definitely the colour of this site ' there is so much of it (in various shades) that it is overpowering to look at. Having said that it is very easy to navigate, very fast at downloading graphics and has a great search engine. The day before the election it was also the only site with any humour. Its leading banner on the home page had the headline 'Go on burst his bubble' with a picture of Tony Blair in a bubble, a pinprick then bursts the bubble, Blair's face distorts and then disappears. The rest of the site is pretty sober, if professional ' detailing the Conservative manifesto, leading issues of the day, speeches, election candidates, election campaign etc. It's design, however, doesn't make it�easy to join the Conservative Party

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Liberal Democrats

In comparison to the Tories, the LibDems are very in your face when it comes to joining the party ' a separate page opens up before its home page allowing you to join before you enter their site. This site is bright yellow and orange and also overpowering, but it's text based and very easy to navigate. It focuses heavily on education and health ' the real vote-winning subjects ' on its home page.

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There is a big section on Charles Kennedy and his campaign trail; biographies and photos of al their candidates; the Scottish and Welsh LibDems; and tackling both enemy camps there are unique 20 reasons not to vote Tory and 20 reasons not to vote Labour sections. You can also register to receive regular e-news on the LibDems.

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Q. Do the other minor political parties have a presence on the web

A. As the Internet is the best medium for accessing information on all the parties and their manifestos easily they are all well represented.

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Plaid Cymru

A good site with comprehensive sections on the history of the party, the Welsh National Assembly and current news on the party.

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Scottish National Party

This site is pretty run of the mill, but it does let you register for a postal vote and gives in-detail information of SNP activity in every Scottish constituency.

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The Green Party

This site is very clear and without the razzmatazz of the other parties, and obviously focuses on environmental issues.

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Social Democratic & Labour Party

The design of this site is amateur with the picture quality quite poor ' but it has clear definitions of policy and their manifesto.

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Socialist Workers Party

Another amateur site, which is quite hard to navigate as all the information is a bit jumbled, it has good links to journals e.g. International Socialism and is a good source of information for activists.

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Monster Raving Loony Party

This site claims that the Monster Raving Loony Party have had all its ideas stolen by other parties since the early 1960s eg. votes for 18-year-olds. Check it out!

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Q. Are there any sites that take a lighter or alternative view of the election

A. There are loads that poke fun at the whole process or are there for voters to vent their anger. If you think that your constituency does not have a candidate you'd like to vote for check out where to vote for nobody at http://uk.geocities.com/votenobody or make up your own manifesto on the Free Party's site www.thefreeparty.org.uk or become a tactical voter at www.tacticalvoter.net or indeed trade your vote in a marginal seat for one in a safe seat at www.new-politics.net.

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If you have any other Internet related questions, please click here

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By Karen Anderson