So, it seems Iain Dale is worried about the future of the Right-wing blogosphere. Fired up by a disappointing drop in conservative blogs in the latest TotalPoliticics Blog Awards list, he used his column yesterday to ask where the next generation of right-wing bloggers were, and why there had been a drop in interest from that side of the spectrum.
"The comparative decline of the right is not because existing right-wing blogs have been performing badly, it is because there has been no new blood."
I think one of the commentors on his post had it right. When your Party is in power, the impetus to blog about what you disagree with is considerably weakened. Put simply, the anger isn’t there. Rather than risk blogs becoming tribalist lists of real (or imagined) success, they instead become defunct.
Some events can re-fire interest. The Blue Guerilla came out of mothballs for this summer’s Conservative Future election campaign, as to a certain extent did London Spin. They helped fill a gap in the ‘Tory yoof’ stakes created by Tory Bear’s seeming lack of blogging time. Once the results are announced next week, though, it will be interesting to see if they keep up the pace. As I have found, time for blogging is generally short, particularly when you have a day job outside politics, and a demanding toddler!
Anyway, if Iain Dale is putting out a call to action, then I’m stepping up to the plate. I may not have the most impeccable of national sources to send stories my way, but nonetheless toes will be dipped outside the calm waters of Epsom slightly more often from now on. Iain, fancy giving me your little black book?
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