RAE 2008 : Over 900 academics selected to assess research in 2008

News on the Research Assessment exercise front: the panels have been populated. The 'Communication' panel is especially interesting, read below.

RAE 2008: Over 900 academics selected to assess research in 2008
9th May 2005

The four UK higher education funding bodies have appointed over 900 experts to the 67 sub-panels for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The lists are published today (9 May). Sub-panels are responsible for the core work in assessing research submitted by universities and colleges, and making recommendations to main panels on the quality profiles to award for each submission.

The sub-panels are part of a new two-tier structure for the 2008 RAE. Each sub-panel is part of one of 15 main panels, which together cover the full range of research across all subject areas.

For Politics and International Studies (panel 39):

Chair
Professor Anthony PAYNE University of Sheffield
Members
Professor Christine BELLAMY, Nottingham Trent University
Professor Kenneth BOOTH, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Professor Chris BROWN, London School of Economics and Political Science
Professor Malcolm CHALMERS, University of Bradford
Professor Diana COOLE, Birkbeck College
Professor John DUMBRELL, University of Leicester
Professor James DUNKERLEY, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London
Professor Iain HAMPSHER-MONK, University of Exeter
Professor Colin HAY, University of Birmingham
Professor Christopher HILL, University of Cambridge
Professor Stephanie LAWSON, University of East Anglia
Professor Michael MORAN, University of Manchester
Professor David SANDERS, University of Essex
Professor William WALKER, University of St Andrews
Professor Helen WALLACE, European University Institute

For Communication, Cultural and Media Studies (panel 66):

Chair
Professor Peter GOLDING, Loughborough University
Members
Mr John ADAMS, University of Bristol
Professor Martin BARKER, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Professor Neil BLAIN, University of Paisley
Professor John CORNER, University of Liverpool
Professor John ELLIS Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Chris FROST, Liverpool John Moores University
Professor Justin LEWIS, Cardiff University
Professor Angela MCROBBIE, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Professor Maire MESSENGER DAVIES, University of Ulster
Professor Mica NAVA, University of East London
Ms Helen NORMOYLE, OFCOM
Professor Sue THORNHAM, University of Sussex

report: The impact of e-government on competitiveness

EUROPA - IDABC: The impact of e-government on competitiveness

Complete title:
The impact of e-government and competitiveness, growth and jobs

Independent Research Report, 14 February 2005

Author(s):
IDABC eGovernment Observatory

Background research report published by the eGovernment Observatory, exploring the link between electronic government and economic competitiveness. The report reviews a number of key issues for Europe’s competitiveness agenda and outlines ways to leverage e-government as a key factor of to make European economies more competitive. It addresses the relation between ICT use, productivity growth and increased competitiveness, and reviews the main levers government can use to boost competitiveness, growth and jobs. Highlighting the crucial impact of public sector efficiency on competitiveness, the report outlines ways to incorporating competitiveness strategic objectives into e-government policies. This report is intended to provide a basis for further work and discussion on the economic impact of e-government.

Participation, mobilisation and the Internet

I dug out a presentation I gave to Glasgow University about participation, mobilisation and the Internet. It provides a broad overview of my research interests.

Department of Politics, Glasgow University, 17 April
'Participation, mobilisation and the Internet Citizens, agencies, technologies'

Campaigning in the 2004 federal election

Campaigning in the 2004 federal election: innovations and traditions
Research Note no. 30 2004–05

Dr Sarah Miskin
Politics and Public Administration Section
8 February 2005

Australia’s political parties proved they were not too set in their ways to learn a few new tricks—or at least a few new campaign techniques—for the 2004 federal election on 9 October 2004. With opinion polls predicting a tight race and political commentators alleging that there were large numbers of undecided voters who were open to persuasion, the parties could not afford to be complacent about their strategies to attract voters. In response to the challenge, they added several innovative measures to their traditional voter-wooing methods. As a result, voters accustomed to facing a barrage of political messages delivered via the mainstream media and the letterbox found they had to deflect a new onslaught delivered via the telephone and the Internet.

This Research Note reviews some of the innovative techniques of the 2004 election, including tele-marketing, e-mail spam and Internet campaigning, as well as some of the traditional techniques, including mass-media advertising and direct mail.

[ I think I've seen a PDF version somewhere on the site ]

2005 election online: a summary

Time to take stock from what happened during the election on the Internet, and what needs doing in terms of further analysis.

First we did a tracking study of the candidates websites, looking at who had a site and who hadn't in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also looked at how many had a blog, it was some 65 candidates at the last count. Results from that are sort of ready.

Then we content analyzed a representative sample of constituencies in England and Wales. The frame included measures for information and engagement alike. That will be ready by mid next week.

In addition, we looked at main parties' websites for a broader range of features. That should be ready shortly as well.

Then we run a public opinion survey, British representative, to see how citizens used the Internet for election purposes. The survey was in the field between 12-17 May; we just finished a first draft report, which will be released, guess when, next week.

In the pipeline: in-depth studies of a number of constituencies; interviews with campaign staff; and a lot of data analysis of the above. Plus reporting of results at conferences, writing up for various papers and chapters, and wine-spilling if someone is so kind to call us out to speak at posh events. But we may be too busy, mind you...

[I will be, but spilling summer ale, a recent, pleasant discovery; spring has come, even to springless Manchester]

report: Hansard Society - Members Only?

About the communication of Westminster, including a section on new media.

Hansard Society - Members Only? report launched
Friday, May 20, 2005

Members Only? Parliament in the Public Eye [was] launched on 24 May. Members Only? is the report of the Hansard Society Commission on the Communication of Parliamentary Democracy.

Chaired by David Puttnam, the Commission examines whether Parliament is failing in its democratic duty to communicate with the electorate. The report looks at the need to re-establish the crucial link between Parliament and the people, and sets out a practical route for much needed change.

Click here for a full list of Commission recommendations.

Click here for the Executive Summary.

Judging form the recommendation document, a bit thin as concerns new media broadly defined; recommentations limited to the Parliament website:

R15 A new Communications Department should establish effective processes to
manage, edit, develop and continually update the parliamentary website.

R16 The parliamentary website should be radically improved. At a minimum, it
should be consultative, interactive and easily navigable.

R17 An improved website should engage the widest range of citizens, using well-designed publicity and targeted advertising to help people understand that
there is a virtual route through which they have easy access to their Parliament

The tip of the iceberg I would have thought; but surely there is more in the full report.

journal article: e-government

this should keep you busy for a while; I'll need to dash to the library before it's snatched up. oh, and I mean the lse library, which has an impressive collection. well worth a visit if you are in London.

ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT
VOL 2; NUMB 1 (2005)

pp. 1-10
Facilitating cross-boundary leadership in emerging e-government leaders
McDaniel, E. A.

pp. 11-25
E-government: key success factors for value discovery and realisation
Chircu, A. M.; Lee, D. H.-D.

pp. 56-76
E-government application at local level: issues and challenges: an empirical study
Yang, J.; Paul, S.

pp. 77-86
A conceptual analysis of knowledge management in e-government
Metaxiotis, K.; Psarras, J.

report: Benchmarking e-Government in Europe and the US

an oldie but a goodie, as the ad goes. not a bright picture for eu egov, but things may have change recently, as the egov component of the information society plan is more prominent. judge for yourself.

Benchmarking e-Government in Europe and the US
Irma Graafland-Essers, Emile Ettedgui
MR-1733-EC, 2003

Full Document: PDF (0.8 MB)

Abstract:

This study addresses the demand-side of e-government — not only usage — but also perceptions and barriers to utilization that have not been treated previously. Indicators to measure acceptance and adoption of e-government were used to build two surveys that were then piloted among members of the ‘general population’ in the 15 EU Member States, Switzerland and the U.S., and to IT managers in the commercial sector in seven EU countries. The survey shows that only about one third of businesses are currently using e-government. Among these, only about one third prefer this method over existing methods.

journal article: the politics of the internet

Of interest to this enlightened audience may be the following, both broadly to do with the politics of the Internet.

The May 2005 issue of First Monday (volume 10, number 5).

-------

Interdoc: The first international non-governmental computer network
by Brian Martin Murphy

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WSIS: Whose vision of an information society?
by Ajit Pyati

journal article: social informatics

A special issue on social informatics [read a classic introduction by the late Rob Kling]. Well worth a trip to the library.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE
VOL 18; NUMBER 1; 2005

pp. 9-20
On extending social informatics from a rich legacy of networks and conceptual resources
Lamb, R.; Sawyer, S.

pp. 21-25
Social informatics and the political economy of communications
Mansell, R.

pp. 26-32
Multiview as social informatics in action: past, present and future
Wood-Harper, T.; Wood, B.

pp. 33-49
Value conflicts in enterprise systems
Allen, J. P.

pp. 50-67
Exploring sociotechnical interaction with Rob Kling: five "big" ideas
Horton, K.; Davenport, E.; Wood-Harper, T.

journal article: journal of communication inquiry

Affering broadly to the theme of the online public sphere, critical economy variant. Interesting.

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION INQUIRY
VOL 29, NUMB 2

pp. 160-180
The Corporate Colonization of Online Attention and the Marginalization of Critical Communication?
Dahlberg, Lincoln

Victorian Electronic democracy Portal

This is the public end of the Victoria Parliament electronic democracy inquiry. Among other things, the portal features the full final report and evidence gathered for its making. It is an impressive resource for all those interested in e-democracy. The ghost in the machine is Peter Chen, should you be looking for someone to congratulate [apart of course from the members of the committee].

Victorian edemocracy - Welcome to Victorian Electronic democracy Portal

Welcome to the Victorian Electronic Democracy Inquiry portal. This portal has been established to assist members of the public participate in the Parliamentary inquiry established to review the promise, pitfalls, and potential of electronic democracy for our state.

Take part by:
# Finding out more about the inquiry, its aims and objectives
# Look at our discussion paper, read the public submissions made by citizens and public organisations
# Participate in the inquiry: talk with others, track our progress, attend the public hearings (16-18 Febuary 2005).

Creating an Equitable Information Society

Message by the UN Secretary-General

World Telecommunication Day
17 May 2005
Message by Mr Kofi A. ANNAN
Secretary-General
United Nations

We live in an age in which communication between people is essential to achieving our shared goals of development and peaceful coexistence. New innovations in information and communication technologies have increased exponentially our capacity to connect with each other. It is up to us to use to harness the potential of these technologies in our work to extend the benefits of education, health care, trade and environmental protection to all.

The theme of this year’s World Telecommunication Day, 'Creating an Equitable Information Society: Time for Action', calls on us to give shape to the vision adopted at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003. I urge Member States and all other stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to that process, and to participate at the highest levels when the Summit reconvenes in Tunis in November of this year.

Efforts to build an equitable and accessible information society depend on the strength of partnerships between Governments, civil society and businesses, underpinned by the support of international organizations such as the United Nations. On this World Telecommunication Day, which marks the 140th anniversary of the founding of the International Telecommunication Union, let us pledge to bridge technological differences and promote interconnectivity for all. Together, we can create a truly global information society that will benefit all the world’s people.

Kofi A. Annan
Secretary-General
United Nations

conference: online deliberation 2005 / diac 2005

the conference is currently in progress, and some of the papers presented are availalbe from the website. and it has a blog.

2nd Conference on Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice / DIAC-2005

Online Deliberation 2005 / DIAC-2005
Hosted by The Symbolic Systems Program, the Center for Deliberative Democracy, the Center for the Study of Language and Information, and the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University

Stanford, CA, USA
May 20 - 22, 2005

The Second Conference on Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice / DIAC 2005, will bring together software developers, social science researchers, and practioners of online deliberation for three days of presentations and workshops on the Stanford University campus in May of 2005. Following up on an earlier conference, 'Developing and Using Online Tools for Deliberative Democracy', held at Carnegie Mellon University in June of 2003, we would like at this meeting to discuss the possible creation of a new society for online deliberation with an international membership, to support cross-disciplinary scholarship, principled design, and informed practice in the use of online environments for group deliberation and democratic participation. This is also the latest in a series of conferences on Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC), presented in association with the Public Sphere Project (a CPSR Initiative).

what if...

What if the votes cast at the 2005 election had been counted with the d'Hondt formula, the PR arrangement used in the EP election?

	East Midlands	Eastern	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire Humber	Scotland	Wales	Total seats
Labour	18	17	30	17	36	21	12	24	26	24	18	243
Tories	17	25	24	6	22	38	20	21	17	9	9	208
Lib Dem	8	13	16	7	17	21	17	11	12	14	8	144
UKIP	1	1	1		1	2	2	1				9
BNP								1	1			2
Green			2			1						3
Respect			1									1
SNP										11		11
Scottish Soc										1		1
Plaid Cymru											5	5

Would such a HoC yield a workable majority? Uhm.

[d'Hondt, no barrage, computed for standard region party lists]

book: Democracy and New Media

new old edited book, reads nicely [and the hard-back is on sale on the MIT online store!]

Democracy and New Media
Edited by Henry Jenkins and David Thorburn

Digital technology is changing our politics. The World Wide Web is already a powerful influence on the public's access to government documents, the tactics and content of political campaigns, the behavior of voters, the efforts of activists to circulate their messages, and the ways in which topics enter the public discourse. The essays collected here capture the richness of current discourse about democracy and cyberspace. Some contributors offer front-line perspectives on the impact of emerging technologies on politics, journalism, and civic experience. What happens, for example, when we increase access to information or expand the arena of free speech? Other contributors place our shifting understanding of citizenship in historical context, suggesting that notions of cyber-democracy and online community must grow out of older models of civic life. Still others consider the global flow of information and test our American conceptions of cyber-democracy against developments in other parts of the world. How, for example, do new media operate in Castro's Cuba, in post-apartheid South Africa, and in the context of multicultural debates on the Pacific Rim? For some contributors, the new technologies endanger our political culture; for others, they promise civic renewal.

first .eu domain ever

You may have missed the first .eu domain ever going live.

Go get one. Now.

report: new pew reports, spam and health online

Two recent reports from the Pew Internet & American Life Project

1) Spam and Phishing (April 10, 2005)

Overall, more than half of all internet users (52%) complain that spam is a big problem. In a first-time measure of "phishing," or unsolicited email requesting
personal financial information, 35% of users say they have received such
email, and 2% have responded by providing the information.

Read the full report

2) Health Information Online (May 17, 2005)

Eight in ten internet users have looked online for information on at
least one of 16 health topics, with increased interest in diet, fitness,
drugs, health insurance, experimental treatments, and particular doctors
and hospitals. That translates to about 95 million American adults (18+)
who use the internet to find health information.

Some demographic groups showed notable interest in specific topics - 59%
of online women have read up on nutrition information online, for
example, compared with 43% of online men. Thirty-eight percent of online
parents have checked online for health insurance information, compared
with 26% of internet users who do not have children living at home.
Forty-one percent of internet users with a broadband connection at home
have looked up a particular doctor or hospital, compared with 19% of
internet users with a dial-up connection at home.

Read the full report

journal article: information and communication technology law

special issue on rights, identiy and regulation in cyberspace

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY LAW
VOL 14; NUMB 2; 2005

pp. 115-132
Identity Manipulation in Cyberspace as a Leisure Option: Play and the Exploration of Self
Simpson, B.

pp. 133-150
Right Vision, Wrong Expectations: The European Union and Self-regulation of Harmful Internet Content
Bonnici, J. P. M.; de Vey Mestdagh, C. N. J.

pp. 151-164
Clear and Present Danger? Law and the Regulation of the Internet
O Brien, M.

pp. 165-198
Cyberjuries: The Next New Thing?
Marder, N. S.

journal article: web surveys

three articles on web-surveys

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
VOL 8; NUMB 2; 2005

pp. 85-100
The Effect of Personalization on Response Rates and Data Quality in Web Surveys
Heerwegh, D.; Vanhove, T.; Matthijs, K.; Loosveldt, G.

---

SOCIAL SCIENCE COMPUTER REVIEW
VOL 23; NUMB 2; 2005

pp. 235-249
A Typology of Real-Time Validations in Web-Based Surveys
Peytchev, A.; Crawford, S.

----

INTERNET RESEARCH
VOL 15; NUMBER 2; 2005

pp. 195-219
The value of online surveys
Evans, J. R.; Mathur, A.

report: A Councillor's Guide 2005/06

Are you a new councillor?

Then you must read this. I wonder how many new councillors there are elected on average on a standard electoral cycle. And how many then make the shortlist for PPC, at the following Westminster election, and then how many become MPs.

Political socialisation and sub-elite recruitment and training, that is.

A Councillor's Guide 2005/06: "A Councillor's Guide 2005/06

The new edition of the Councillor’s Guide has been revised and updated to reflect the latest legislation and thinking concerning local government in England.

This year’s edition is different from previous ones in that it is focused on the needs of new councillors rather than councillors generally.

This version examines the sort of things new councillors need to know at the start of their careers in public life. It discusses councillors’ roles and responsibilities as ward representatives, explains how councils work and how they are funded, examines the various checks and balances that regulate councils and councillors and stresses the importance of community leadership.

Socitm : E is for efficiency: reaping the benefits of technology

Beginning of a long week of reports dump about e-government, e-democracy and e-politics in general. Beware.

Socitm : publications / E is for efficiency reaping the benefits of technology: "E is for efficiency: reaping the benefits of technology

The experience of the private sector is that good ustomer-centric processes are not only effective, but efficient also. In Government, we would expect to drive out efficiencies as we help public servants to do their jobs better, citizens to serve themselves and intermediaries and agents to transact on behalf of citizens. In other words, better public services are also more efficient.

Ian Watmore, Government Chief Information Officer (CIO)

[ If you have some 150 UK£ to spare that is ]

report: power to the edges

what the internet can do for small, fluid and some would say hybrid political organisations

report | E-Volve Foundation

This report provides an overview of the state of online democracy; what it is, where it is headed, and what it means for activists and those who support them. A literature review was completed, online discussions were monitored and nineteen in-depth interviews with leaders in the fields of online technologies, nonprofit capacity building, citizen engagement and social networks were conducted. This effort is intended to be a snapshot in time, not the ultimate guide, and to serve as a jumping off point for further discussions to occur online about how these tools and the culture of online civic engagement can be further developed and scaled for broader, deeper and more lasting citizen action.

article: e-learning

a few interesting items on e-learning, the academia and digital literacy(ies)

ASLIB PROCEEDINGS
VOL 57; NUMBER 2; 2005

pp. 109-122
E-learning: what the literature tells us about distance education: An overview
Williams, P.; Nicholas, D.; Gunter, B.

pp. 168-180
The use of the internet in higher education: Academics' experiences of using ICTs for teaching and learning
Eynon, R.

pp. 181-190
From prescribed reading to the excitement or the burden of choice: Information literacy: foundation of e-learning
Andretta, S.

bloggers for political responsibility

After a weekend of mumbling, I have finally distilled the recent blogosphere events, in terms of many bloggers' engagement with political issues in the UK (and elsewhere): the election, electoral reform, world debt.

BOPR :Bloggers (and others) for political responsibility.

Of course, this can be interpreted apocryphally as bloggers for proportional representation, as a lively debate is raging about the health of political representation in Britain.

The idea is launched into cyberspace, to the bloggers the hard task to write a manifesto now.

[I even created a section of links on the blog, which I hope to populate soon]

central government website rankings - january 2005

You may have missed the accessiblity ranking of most UK central government websites, published in January (I certainly did).

Interesting that the Privy Council website is listed, while Parliament.uk isn't. Not a government website, you may point out. Fair enough, but still. Refreshing that the Child Support Agency should top the table, after quite some media coverage on the CSA information technology shambles. [one million cases stuck in the system?]

blogging at the 2005 british election

Tales begin to be told about the import of blogging for the 2005 UK election. This is Reuters account by Jeremy Lovell, well worth a click.

And of course you want to pay a visit to Richard Kimber's list of political blogs during the election.

mp blogging from the house

I almost fainted when I read that an MP was blogging with a BlackBerry form the floor of the House.

Just days after the UK election, and on the first day of the new Parliament.

Except he is a Canadian MP. No need to rewrite the 'Weird to Wired' paper, then, at least for the forseable future [and Richard Allan stood down, which makes it even safer].

and for the general election: the winner is...., is...., is....

One is left wondering.

................................................
BBC NEWS - ELECTION 2005
................................................

* Blair secures historic third term *
* Howard salutes a Tory 'recovery' *
* Lib Dem success 'heralds new era' *

Ahhh, but they all won, doh.

Which begs the question: who lost the election then? Ehr, Veritas? Did they stand any chance? Not Galloway, I presume. The Greens? Naaa. SNP? Two more seats. UKIP? [see Veritas]. Maybe Lewis Baston has the answer.

britain's digital news edge

When the Guardian online wins the Best newspaper award, and BBC wins the Best news award, what's left for the competition? This is, I would argue, prime material for IPPR 'Manifesto for digital Britain'.

As concerns the BBC, ahhh, booring [they won four awards...]. It is by far the best news service online, and has been so for the last, how many, five years? The online coverage of the election is just great, and I've lost sight of iCan, but am sure it's doing well.

As concerns the Guardian, then. Now, I hate to do this, I really do, twice a month is a chore. But someone has to: I told you so! When a newspaper has twice as many unique visitors per day as printed circulation (ABC figures), what do you expect? They must be busy celebrating...

[ and I also note that Al Gore won The Webby Lifetime Achievement Award; payback of sorts for being taunted in 2000 as the 'inventor of the Internet'; he wasn't, but he certainly took the initiative; and yes, I have a transcript of the original TV interview, so don't mess with me ]

politics, digital moons and idiots

There was and still there is much talk in digital Italy about media technologies and disclosure, following the 'confidential' US PDF report about the Calipari killing that was, well, not so confidential once you cut and pasted... And, hear hear, it was a humble blogger who spotted the bug first, with traditional news agencies trailing. Yeah. [read summary of events in English, courtesy of Antonio Roversi]

Now, what makes the news instead? You won't beleive this: Italians seek to close Web site showing pope as Nazi. Now that's hot, there resides the true power of the Net! The pope! A Nazi!! A website!!! Dark forces of defamation, trying to undermine the holiest of institutions. Bad, bad technology, bad.

Now, this reminds me of the zen adage, when the sage points at the moon, all that the idiot sees is the finger. Or the Pope weaing a swastika.

[ stop press: one major Italian newpspaper, Il Corriere della Sera, features the story and the blogger on their website; but I want to see it in print... ]

[ latest news: blimey, it is in print ]

Blogging for activists

Interesting take on new media for activism, cybersoc: Blogging and Photo-Sharing for Activists, from Robin Hamman. I wonder why it is always environmental organisations that seem to be making the most (and leading the adoption of) new media for activism.

Also, I am not totally convinced by the argument that blogs reach out to a wider audience. Isn't it the same young white males, with high internet skills?.

MPs websites as campaign tools?

According to research conducted at Salford University [PDF], about 350 MPs seeking re-election had a personal website in their previous incarnation. And according to HoC rules, every mention to 'MP' should be removed from websites and other campaign communications after dissolution, alternatively the website should be frozen, and include a notice to this effect. What has happened to the 350 sites? What was MPs strategy?

In general, one has the impression of remarkable digital continuity. 13 % of MPs adventurously opted for a new campaign URL, generally reachable from the old website. 38 % re-styled the sites, removed reference to 'MP' and included variously sophisticated campaign information. An additional 5 % re-directed the punter to the local party site. A considerable minority (22 %) opted instead for the 'notice' and froze the site at April 11. Or quite, as the websites remains open, including information on the MP's work.

Thus a large number of MPs, about 80 %, used the sites actively as a campaign tool or built on the incumbency of the 'personal' touch. Finally, a small minority of 16 % decided instead to take the site down and relinquished the opportunity to use the blazon for campaigns purposes. Sites went down in a variety of ways: the abrupt cancellation of the address, the inclusion of a single liner stating the obvious, or the removal of everything except a page with contact information.

There remains however a small area of ambiguity, as 22 MPs left the site as it was before the election, including Portcullis, 'MP' and all the trappings. Which, by the book, is electoral malpractice. The impression though is one of forgetfulness rather than cunning calculation.

The transition caused an evident crisis of digital identity for some MPs, both 'have been' and 'wannabee'. Some may refuse to believe they are not MPs anymore, such as Ronnie Campbell. Some, like David Laws, claim that the Parliament is certainly suspended and there are no MPs, but they gingerly retain the title. To some the word 'MP' has become anathema, and removed point blank from the entire site: 'I was an .' What, one may wonder. Finally, others already envisage their new days sitting on the balcony sipping lemonade; this is the case of Dawn Butler, Labour first-time candidate for Brent South. Ahh, the solace of a 50 % majority.

[ update: Dawn Butler has now receded from her claim, and opted for a safer 'work in progress page' ]