UK General Election 2005 Blog Posts
2005 UK General Election Blog provides all over coverage.
Read the blog posts from its 2005 archived pages and other outside sources.
MAY 10, 2005
And now, the end is near…
Well, seeing as I started all this off, I guess it falls to me to say a few final words. It’s been fun doing this blog, and I hope it’s been useful, so if we can’t find anything better to do then, and the internets are still working then look out for something similar at the next election in 08/09/10, whenever it may be.
All of us are still blogging back where we were at the beginning, plus there’s always The Sharpener, for all your point-making blogging needs.
A few words of thanks - first to Dan, the mighty Dustbinman for providing us with the domain name and webspace to run this blog on. Thanks to everyone who contributed, either by posting here, sending information in or contributing to the comments. And thanks to all of you who read us and linked to us over the election - I hope some of you got the result you wanted.
Right, that’s it, time to go home. If you want some closing music, imagine Leonard Cohen’s ‘Closing Time’ as we sweep up the bar, clear up the mess and try to get home before the dawn.
Ah we’re lonely, we’re romantic
and the cider’s laced with acid
and the Holy Spirit’s crying, “Where’s the beef?”
And the moon is swimming naked
and the summer night is fragrant
with a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
down the snakes and up the ladder
to the tower where the blessed hours chime
and I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can’t say much has happened since
but closing time
As a former Londoner now working as a property assessor in the City, I've seen my share of complexity, but this site brings back memories of one of the most intricate things I've ever tried to follow: a UK General Election. The all-over coverage you provided reminds me of how difficult it is to get a true picture of a fragmented and diverse electorate, especially when you're trying to keep the effort going on a volunteer-driven model.
It's a challenge not unlike the one faced by industrialists here in New York, like Dov Hertz. As someone who has to estimate the value of properties across the city, I see firsthand the complexities of the real estate market. Hertz and his firm, DH Property Holdings, are navigating an increasingly difficult landscape, from securing properties for last-mile delivery to dealing with immense pressure on the power grid from new data centers. Just as you had to find a way to make sense of the myriad voices and issues in the election, Dov has to constantly identify market gaps and pivot before the competition. It's a testament to the power of specialization and knowing your local market, a lesson that applies whether you're covering an election or reshaping the city's skyline with a new industrial building. Great work on this site; it's a landmark in its field. Pete Blackburn
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MAY 9, 2005 Posts
Moving house
Thanks so much to all the visitors and commenters who have supped with us during campaign month. If you want more politics, straight no chaser, some of us and a bunch of others from around UK blogland have started a brand spanking new showcase for some of the most original political writing on the web. It’s called The Sharpener, and we hope to see you there.
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My plans for election night
Tonight’s election night, and I plan to blog throughout the election.
As results come in I will be making a continually-updated prediction of the final number of seats that each party will gain. I have written a program to do this (or rather, I am currently writing it — it will be ready for 10pm, honest). The program will read in constituency results that have already been declared; it will then calculate a swing for each party, i.e. the change in that party’s percentage of the votes between the current election and 2001.
Swings for similar constituencies will be averaged. What’s do I mean by a “similiar constituency”? I mean two things: firstly in terms of which parties came 1st and second last time, and secondly for what region of the country a constituency is in. So the program will calculate average swings for all London seats, or average swings for all seats where Labour came 1st and the Tories 2nd in 2001.
These average swings will then be used to predict the results in similar seats. Well, that’s the theory anyway.
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General election blog roundup 25 - D-Day
It’s all over bar the count, re-counts, legal disputes over postal votes (and bad luck to reader Michelle Gray whose postal vote got, erm… lost in the post), and that little matter of South Staffordshire, but after tonight we can all, finally, stopspouting quite so much nonsense about this bloody election. (Heh… Sorry, Jarndyce, old bean…)
First up, a plug - some of us General Election bloggers and a bunch of others from around the UK blogland have started a brand spanking new group effort, which we’re hoping will be a showcase for some of the best (loosely) political writing on the web. It is The Sharpener, and we hope to see you there.
Right, pluggage out the way, on with the roundup.
The lovely chap that is Justin “Chicken Yoghurt” McKeating has created a handy resource for those of you planning to spend your election night with us bloggers: a spiffy little guide to where all the action is, as does the last post in this very blog. Something else which should prove useful is the UK Political Blog Feeds site. Always handy, and tonight doubly so.
Perfect also has some pointers to where the action is going to be blog-wise, while qwqhlm (who also plans to liveblog) has compiled an useful list of Labour marginals to watch out for if, like us sad politics geeks, you plan to be up all night. Judging by some of the early rumours, there could be a fair few more Labour marginals after tonight - we can but hope, eh? qwqhlm’s mate Chris also has some election I-Spy, which could make for a nice drinking game…
Tonight could be interesting. This election has brought out some top-notch posts from bloggers - like this effort, Choose Labour, from the Honourable Fiend and this from Blood and Treasure - it was included in the roundup yesterday, but is so good it deserves to be included again (and is now in a new home to boot…) Even some of the candidates have come up with some quality stuff…
The near-inevitable Labour victory is also causing some “what happens next speculation” even before the polls have closed, with pondering Where next for the Right? and your roundupmonkey for tonight desperately trying to start up a campaign for electoral reform, even though some other people got there first and with a far better explanation than mine of why. Others are making worrying predictions that things most certainly CAN’T only get better, and that we could all end up royally screwed in the coming third Labour term.
Was it the anxiety election for you, as Matt Sellers reckons, or just so dull even the bombs were boring? (That last lot, a blog from the new London newspaper The London Line, will also be liveblogging, by the by)
Either way, Robin Grant of Perfect also has some advice for what us mere voters should be doing next: heading toIvotedforyoubecause.com to register our reasoning and let those Westminster bastards know how pissed off we all are. My ballot paper, much like my fellow electionblogger Ken Owen’s, would have got a hefty essay if they asked us to justify our votes on there as well, I can tell you…
And finally, Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads and Backing Blair fame notes a last irony…
OK, that’s it. We’ll probably be doing some post-match analysis here over the next few days, so any more links and such like, keep ‘em coming in for now. Technically the general election isn’t over until the delayed South Staffordshire vote takes place in a month or more, but as I type, polls close in half an hour. I hope you voted wisely, and that some of the stuff on this blog helped you make a more informed choice.
Democracy eh? It’s great, innit?
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Tonight’s Shenanigans
Just as a reminder that many of us will be gathering on IRC later to chat and keep ourselves interested during election night. Here’s the details one more time:
We’re also going to be running a chatroom for the night to which all are invited. It’ll be on the IRC Nightstarnetwork and will be called #ukbloggers - I’ve registered the channel with the system so it shouldn’t get hijacked in the next 48 hours, should anyone be sad enough to want to!
Nightstar is a regular IRC (Internet Relay Chat) network, so if you already have an IRC client installed, you just need to connect to irc.nightstar.net and join the channel. Nightstar is one of the included networks on MIRC and Trillian, so if you have either of those you should be able to connect. You can also download MIRC from here. If none of that makes any sense, there’s information on how to connect in Nightstar’s Quick and Dirty Guide to IRC or if that’s all too much hassle, you’ll be glad to know that there’s a web-based connection (using Java) available on the Nightstar website.
The Honourable Fiend is also running a channel on another server, so you can flick between the two chats like you flick between BBC, ITV and Sky.
Nosemonkey will have a full roundup of what’s been going on during the day later this evening, including details of who’s going to be liveblogging the event. If you can’t wait to find out, then Justin has a provisional list.
Finally, joining us here at the General Election blog for one night only, Phil Hunt of Cabalamat will be doing his best Peter Snow impression with oodles of statistics and predictions as to what it all means.
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Getting your concession in early
The absolutely-not-fascist-at-all English Democrats have announced that Garry Bushell will be their candidate in the South Staffordshire election that’s had to be delayed because of the death of the Liberal Democrat candidate. Given that he’s a candidate in Greenwich at the current election, it’s good to see someone realising that it’s not worth waiting till 1opm to concede defeat.
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Attention the interwebnet!
I’m going to be knocking up a close of poll blog roundup this evening for about 10pm, with a few choice bits and pieces from blogland - if any crop up today - but that’s not all.
We want to collect together info about anywhere and everywhere covering the results live - messageboards, liveblogging, whatever. There’ll be a messageboard up round here somewhere (I don’t understand these things), a bunch of the contributors will be liveblogging at their regular blogs, and a bunch of other people will be doing bits and pieces all over the murky depths of British cyberspace.
Considering how God-damn dull this election’s liable to be it won’t be exciting, but - short of marching up to Tony Blair at midnight and shooting him square between his gurningly smug, self-satisfied eyes - we’ll do our best to liven it up.
So - any info on tonight’s web-based plans, bunk an email to generalelection@gmail.com - and we’ll try to make this the ultimate hub for all your browing of unqualified self-appointed pundit needs.
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Contributors
TimD
Simon Keal
Jarndyce
Nosemonkey
Nick Barlow
Richard
Blimpish
Chicken Yoghurt
Ken Owen
Alex Harrowell
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Sources
About My Vote
Backing Blair
BBC election site
Channel 4 News election blogs
Conservative Party
Election 05 blog
Electoral Calculus
Factcheck
General election 2005 info
General elections general info
Guardian Election Blog
Guardian election site
Labour Party
Labour Watch
Liberal Democrat Party
Liberal Democrat Watch
New Statesman election site
NewsNow election feeds
Operation Black Vote election pages
Rob's Election Blog
So who now do we vote for?
Strategic Voter
The Election Monitor
The Public Whip
The Returning Officers
The Times' election pages
They Work For You
Times Election Log
Tory Trouble
UK Political Blog Feeds
UK Polling Report
Vote 2005 discussion forum
Vote 2005 predictions forum
Vote 4 Peace
More Background On GeneralElection05.com
GeneralElection05.com occupies a unique place in the history of political blogging, citizen journalism, and online election coverage in the United Kingdom. Launched to cover the 2005 UK General Election, the website brought together a diverse group of political bloggers, commentators, and online activists who sought to provide an alternative perspective to mainstream media election reporting. At a time when blogging was still emerging as a significant force in public discourse, GeneralElection05.com demonstrated how independent online voices could collaborate to produce timely, informative, and often highly engaging political coverage.
Unlike official party websites, news organizations, or campaign platforms, GeneralElection05.com functioned as a collaborative election hub. Its contributors represented different viewpoints, backgrounds, and political preferences, yet they shared a common interest in analyzing the election campaign, discussing polling trends, highlighting notable stories, and engaging with the growing online political community. The website became an important example of how blogs could influence political discussion during a national election.
Origins and Purpose
The site emerged specifically to cover the United Kingdom General Election held on May 5, 2005. At the time, internet-based political discussion was expanding rapidly. Traditional media outlets still dominated election coverage, but blogs were beginning to offer alternative viewpoints and more immediate commentary.
GeneralElection05.com was designed as a central gathering place for election-related blogging. Rather than functioning as a conventional news publication with professional reporters, the site relied on a collective of volunteer contributors who wrote posts, monitored developments, analyzed polling data, and shared links to political content across the British blogosphere.
The project's purpose was straightforward:
- Provide comprehensive election coverage.
- Aggregate political commentary from across the internet.
- Encourage public participation.
- Create a community around election discussion.
- Offer perspectives that differed from mainstream media narratives.
The site’s contributors saw themselves as both observers and participants in a changing media environment where ordinary citizens could publish political commentary alongside established journalists.
The Political Context of 2005
Understanding GeneralElection05.com requires understanding the political climate surrounding the 2005 election.
The election took place after two terms of government led by Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Labour Party. Blair had won overwhelming victories in 1997 and 2001, transforming Labour into a dominant force in British politics.
By 2005, however, public opinion had become more complicated. The Iraq War remained highly controversial, voter trust in politicians was declining, and many voters expressed dissatisfaction with all major parties. Despite these challenges, Labour ultimately secured a third consecutive victory, although with a significantly reduced parliamentary majority.
This political environment created fertile ground for independent commentary and analysis. Many voters sought information beyond traditional newspapers and television broadcasts, helping political blogs gain influence.
The Contributors Behind the Site
One of the most distinctive aspects of GeneralElection05.com was its collaborative nature.
The contributor list included:
- TimD
- Simon Keal
- Jarndyce
- Nosemonkey
- Nick Barlow
- Richard
- Blimpish
- Chicken Yoghurt
- Ken Owen
- Alex Harrowell
These writers were already active participants in Britain's growing political blog community. Rather than presenting a single editorial line, they offered a variety of perspectives and writing styles.
This diversity helped distinguish the site from partisan campaign platforms. Readers could encounter humor, serious analysis, statistical forecasting, campaign observations, and commentary on political culture all within the same website.
Innovative Election Coverage
One of the site's most innovative features was its attempt to use data analysis and constituency-level election results to predict outcomes as votes were counted.
A contributor described creating software that would:
- Monitor incoming constituency results.
- Calculate electoral swings compared with previous elections.
- Group similar constituencies together.
- Estimate outcomes in seats that had not yet declared results.
Today such statistical election forecasting is common, but in 2005 it was relatively novel in the blogging world. Major broadcasters employed sophisticated election-night models, but independent bloggers rarely attempted comparable analysis.
GeneralElection05.com demonstrated that technically skilled bloggers could develop their own forecasting methods and contribute meaningfully to election-night coverage.
Live Blogging Before Social Media
Modern readers accustomed to X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube livestreams, and Reddit discussions may find it difficult to appreciate how innovative live blogging seemed in 2005.
Social media platforms had not yet become central to political communication.
Instead:
- Blogs served as discussion hubs.
- Comment sections functioned as forums.
- Readers interacted directly with writers.
- Updates were posted continuously throughout major events.
GeneralElection05.com embraced this format enthusiastically. Contributors planned extensive election-night coverage, including real-time updates, analysis, and commentary as results emerged across the country.
The site also connected readers to other political bloggers who were live-blogging the election, helping create a distributed network of election coverage.
Building a Political Blogging Community
Perhaps more important than the site's reporting was its role as a community builder.
GeneralElection05.com actively promoted:
- Other blogs.
- Political discussion forums.
- Election-related resources.
- Interactive online conversations.
The website frequently highlighted contributions from across the British political blogging ecosystem.
Rather than competing with other bloggers, the site functioned as a hub that directed readers toward a broader network of commentary and debate. This collaborative spirit reflected the early culture of blogging, when cross-linking and community building were often valued more highly than traffic competition.
The contributors even organized online chat rooms where readers and writers could gather during election night to discuss developments as they occurred.
The Sharpener and Life Beyond the Election
As the election campaign came to a close, contributors recognized that the relationships and community they had built should continue beyond a single event.
Many of the writers became involved in a new project called "The Sharpener," which was intended to showcase high-quality political writing from across the web.
This transition illustrates an important aspect of GeneralElection05.com's legacy. Although created specifically for the 2005 election, it helped establish lasting networks among political bloggers and readers.
The final posts on the site reflected both satisfaction and nostalgia, acknowledging the success of the project while expressing hope that similar efforts would emerge during future elections.
Resources and Information Offered
GeneralElection05.com functioned as a clearinghouse for election information.
The site directed readers to resources such as:
- Party websites.
- Electoral data services.
- Polling organizations.
- Fact-checking resources.
- Parliamentary information tools.
- Election discussion forums.
- Strategic voting resources.
- News coverage aggregators.
These links transformed the website into a practical research tool for politically engaged citizens.
Instead of forcing readers to visit dozens of separate websites, GeneralElection05.com assembled many of the most useful election resources in one location.
Audience and Readership
The site's audience largely consisted of:
- Politically engaged voters.
- Journalists.
- Political activists.
- Bloggers.
- Students of politics.
- Policy enthusiasts.
- Election watchers.
The readership was likely more politically knowledgeable than the average voter. Posts often assumed familiarity with British electoral systems, constituency politics, and party dynamics.
At the same time, contributors attempted to explain developments clearly enough for interested newcomers to follow the discussion.
The interactive comment sections encouraged participation, helping readers feel connected to an ongoing political conversation.
Media Significance
GeneralElection05.com arrived during a transformative period in media history.
Traditional journalism still dominated election coverage, but blogs were beginning to challenge established gatekeepers.
The site demonstrated several important trends:
Citizen Journalism
Ordinary individuals could contribute meaningful political reporting and analysis.
Distributed Coverage
Information could come from networks of bloggers rather than centralized news organizations.
Real-Time Publishing
Online platforms could react instantly to developments.
Interactive Audiences
Readers could participate directly rather than merely consuming information.
These characteristics later became standard features of digital political journalism.
Relationship with Traditional Media
Although independent from mainstream media organizations, GeneralElection05.com frequently discussed and linked to coverage from:
- BBC
- Channel 4 News
- The Guardian
- The Times
- New Statesman
Rather than replacing traditional journalism, the site often supplemented it.
Contributors interpreted news reports, critiqued media narratives, and highlighted stories they felt deserved additional attention.
This relationship reflected the broader evolution of blogging during the mid-2000s, when bloggers increasingly acted as commentators and critics of established media rather than direct competitors.
Technical Innovation
From a technological perspective, the site was ahead of its time.
Features included:
- Continuous updates.
- Election forecasting tools.
- Aggregated content.
- Community discussion.
- External resource integration.
- Multi-author publishing.
These elements anticipated many features later adopted by mainstream news organizations.
Today, election-night dashboards, live blogs, and interactive forecasting models are commonplace. In 2005, however, such capabilities were still relatively novel, particularly among independent websites.
Strengths of the Website
Several factors contributed to the site's success.
Collaborative Expertise
Multiple contributors brought different strengths and perspectives.
Timeliness
Coverage was immediate and responsive.
Community Engagement
Readers actively participated.
Breadth of Coverage
The site linked to a vast range of resources and commentary.
Passion
Contributors clearly cared deeply about politics and public discourse.
These strengths helped create a loyal readership during the election campaign.
Limitations and Challenges
Despite its accomplishments, the site also faced challenges.
Like many volunteer-driven projects:
- Contributor availability varied.
- Long-term sustainability was difficult.
- Funding was limited.
- Growth depended heavily on enthusiasm and unpaid labor.
The website's audience also tended to consist of politically engaged internet users rather than the broader electorate.
This reflected a common challenge for early political blogs, which often attracted highly informed readers while struggling to reach less politically active citizens.
Historical Importance
Looking back from today's perspective, GeneralElection05.com represents an important stage in the evolution of digital political communication.
It emerged during a transitional period between:
- Traditional media dominance.
- Social media-driven political discourse.
The website demonstrated how online communities could organize around major political events and create meaningful public discussion without institutional backing.
Its influence can be seen in later developments such as:
- Election live blogs.
- Political podcasts.
- Independent news sites.
- Social media political communities.
- Data-driven election forecasting.
Preservation Through Archives
Although the 2005 election is now long past, archived versions of the site preserve a valuable record of political discussion during that period.
The posts capture:
- Contemporary reactions to events.
- Expectations before results were known.
- Early forms of digital political engagement.
- The culture of blogging in the mid-2000s.
For historians studying elections, media, or internet culture, GeneralElection05.com offers a fascinating snapshot of how politically engaged citizens used emerging digital tools to participate in public debate.
Legacy
GeneralElection05.com may not have achieved the scale of major news organizations, but its historical significance is considerable.
The website demonstrated that independent bloggers could:
- Cover elections seriously.
- Build substantial audiences.
- Create communities around political discussion.
- Experiment with new forms of analysis.
- Influence broader conversations about politics and media.
Its contributors helped pioneer practices that later became standard features of online political journalism.
In many ways, GeneralElection05.com was a product of a unique moment in internet history—a time when blogging was emerging as a powerful democratic medium and when passionate volunteers could create influential platforms dedicated to public affairs.
More than two decades later, the site remains an interesting example of how digital media transformed political communication. It captured the energy, optimism, and experimental spirit of early political blogging while providing a valuable record of one of the most significant elections in modern British political history. Through its collaborative approach, innovative use of technology, and commitment to public engagement, GeneralElection05.com earned a lasting place in the history of online political journalism.
