The last televised leaders' debate ahead of the UK General Election was aired as part of BBC Question Time last night. The complaints from parties, and ever-changing proposals by broadcasters in the lead-up to the first debate in March may have helped give the events publicity and elevated their importance, but 2015 will more importantly be remembered as the year in which party ideals and public feeling were broadcast and shared via non-traditional methods. Short video clips, Twitter conversation, online polls, Instagram accounts - during this election more than any other the internet has provided a platform for sharing, criticising, liking', and shaming, and for attracting and dissuading voters as well as gauging public feeling.
Advertising by political parties on the TV and radio is banned in the UK, and Ofcom sets guidelines on the minimum requirements for short party election broadcasts, and sets rules to ensure due weight and impartiality is given in broadcaster coverage of the elections. However, with more people using a tablet, phone, or computer as a primary means of content consumption, and choosing the internet over linear broadcasting, the importance of televised party broadcasts is waning. In February, for example, the BBC reported that the Conservative Party was spending over £100,000 a month on Facebook. A quick look on the site at the pages of Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP reveal well-stocked video libraries, and the three main parties also have YouTube channels: Labour leads the pack here, with 731 featured videos, compared to the Conservatives' 173 and the Lib Dems' 565.
Twitter has also been used as a major outlet for drumming up support by the main parties, and a channel for broadcasting content. Again, Labour supporters seem to be the most engaged with social media, with the party's page boasting 208,000 followers, compared with the Conservatives' 154,000, UKIP's 101,000, and the Lib Dems' 93,800. During the Question Time debate last night, the Twitter hashtag #bbcqt was used more than 275,000 times.
Politicians are not only using their own social media outlets to garner support - Labour's Ed Miliband took part in an interview with Russell Brand, which was broadcast on Brand's YouTube channel. The Brand/Miliband short has been viewed 885,320 times, and received 16,049 likes' on the site. Perhaps more importantly it has also generated 7,226 comments so far, a sign that just as the issues raised in a traditional TV broadcast may have been discussed afterwards at the pub, newer forms of content sharing still generate, and provide a space for, discussion.
With less than a week to go before polling stations open, and no more TV airtime for debates, all the parties will no doubt be turning to social media sites to persuade those final undecided voters, and try and maintain faith in party followers. The election night itself will be a Twitter storm, with solutions employed by the broadcasters to read and analyse social media interactions to provide a country-wide commentary of proceedings like never before.
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
The last televised leaders' debate ahead of the UK General Election was aired as part of BBC Question Time last night. The complaints from parties, and ever-changing proposals by broadcasters in the lead-up to the first debate in March may have helped give the events publicity and elevated their importance, but 2015 will more importantly be remembered as the year in which party ideals and public feeling were broadcast and shared via non-traditional methods. Short video clips, Twitter conversation, online polls, Instagram accounts - during this election more than any other the internet has provided a platform for sharing, criticising, liking', and shaming, and for attracting and dissuading voters as well as gauging public feeling.
