This blog was placed 10th in the 2006 poll and 18th last year. I would love to do as well again, but seriously don't expect to, as I have had considerably less time to spend on blogging over the past 12 months or so and the frequency (though hopefully not the quality) of postings has suffered as a result. Obviously I'm not going to stop anyone voting for me though - email your Top 10 to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com.
One or two well-known left bloggers are refusing to take part in the poll on the grounds that Iain Dale has consistently made a point of slagging off the left blogosphere, and also that by competing, we are feeding into Iain's image of himself as the "granddaddy of political blogging."
Although I should declare an interest both as a columnist for Total Politics and an (unpaid) contributor to the Guide - I'll be writing about the state of the MSM blogosphere - I disagree on both counts.
On the first point, refusing to take part in an election because a Tory blogger disses your blog is a bit like refusing to vote Labour because the Tory Party says they are shite. Unfortunately for those who would like to see the blogosphere as some sort of neutral platform for the exchange of ideas, political partisanship goes with the territory.
Iain's claim that the entire left blogosphere is rubbish is, in any case, a banquet of bollocks and I don't know why he goes on making it, especially when it contradicts the complimentary things he has said about this and other centre-left blogs in the past. But opting out of the only blog popularity poll currently in town is not the eway to counter that wrong impression.
Secondly, Iain is only the granddaddy of the blogosphere for two reasons - (1) Because Tim Worstall decided he didn't want to be any more, and (2) Because he is the only blogger who has the time and resources to compile the Guide. These aren't good enough reasons not to take part, in my view.
So what of my nominations? There are four leftish blogs in my top 10, three that are centre-ground and three that are right-leaning - a fairly balanced list!
1 Political Betting. Mike Smithson's one-man punditry factory is still the must-read among political blogs.
2 Liberal England. Well-written, funny and wistful, it's about time Jonathan Calder (Lord Bonkers) achieved wider recognition.
3 Benedict Brogan. One of only two newspaper lobby men (Sam Coates is the other) who really "gets" blogging and uses the medium to maximum effect.
4 Liberal Conspiracy. The best attempt thus far to corral together the disparate voices of the left blogosphere - far more so than Comment is Free.
5 Iain Dale's Diary. Still a right riveting read most days despite the (sometimes overdone) anti-Brown propaganda.
6 Hopi Sen. The best new blog to emerge over the past year from Labour's uber-Blairite former North-East press officer.
7 The Daily Pundit. First to predict David Davis's resignation - in 2006. What more can be said?
8 Coffee House. Fraser Nelson usually gets the credit, but in my view James Forsyth is the real reason for this group blog's success.
9 Rupa Huq. Didn't quite take the blogosphere by storm in the way some predicted, but still interesting and insightful.
10 Skipper. Consistently sharp political analysis, though from an increasingly Blairite perspective, from the much underrated Dr Bill Jones.
My list contains a couple of notable omissions in the shape of Dizzy Thinks and Bloggerheads. Both are still excellent blogs in my view, but they have spent too much time attacking eachother over the past year for my liking.
I also left out Guido Fawkes, even though I visit his blog most days. It's still a must-read most of the time, but he has published too many nasty smears about Gordon Brown over the past 12 months to be in my Top 10, not least trying to prove that there was something corrupt in his close relationship with a think-tank set up in memory of his great friend and mentor John Smith, and repeatedly rehashing Mandelson's Gay Gordon smear that was discredited sometime in and around 1994.
I think that's probably enough controversy for now...
12 comments:
Brown's close connection to the Smith Institute is a matter of public record. It is not corrupt. It is a tax dodge. The Institute's activities breach the restrictions placed on them by their charitable status. Brown must know this but he chosen to ignore it. What a hypocrite he is!
The case has been well covered by Bloomberg at: http://tinyurl.com/6eko7b
'July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Britain's charity regulator criticized the Smith Institute over its links with Gordon Brown and his Labour Party, saying it failed to maintain the political neutrality required for its tax-exempt status.
The Charity Commission also said Brown failed to answer its questions about his relationship with the institute, which is run by a university friend of his, Wilf Stevenson . . '
Where does Politics Home rate in all this, Paul? Or have I wandered straight past a reason it ain't a contender?
(PS - your reply need not be influenced by any fears that my vast block votes will go elsewhere)
Fraternally etc., etc
Paul, I am not refusing to participate because Iain Dale 'dissed my blog'. Actually my blog has always featured in the to 5 left/Labour bloggers in his poll, and Iain has always generously included my blog in his recommended list of links. And you misrepresent my reasons for not taking part if you think it is just a hissy-fit because he doesn't like my blog.
I'm actually refusing to participate because he dissed your blog, and all left wing blogs by describing them as 'rubbish'.
I actually assisted Iain in compiling last years list of left bloggers, and I wrote one of the forwards to the book too. But I am not prepared to participate in an exercise whereby the self-proclaimed blogging expert uses our help to compile his list, and then craps all over them once we've done it.
So, I'm not going to play, but others are welcome to do whatever they wish... Oh, and please don't compare this minor distraction with a proper bloody election for heaven's sake, man, get a sense of perspective.
Bob
I was annoyed as you were by Iain's comments about the left blogosphere. I just don't happen to believe that disengagement is the correct tactic in dealing with it, that's all.
Election comparison - point taken.
MorrixOx
PoliticsHome is not a blog, it is a mainstream media website edited by New Labour's most celebrated political commentator. It purports to be a blog aggregator of sorts, but actually the overwhelming majority of its stories are drawn from the mainstream media. And its live feed from the "Top 100 blogs" is bizarre to say the least, given that several blogs that featured in the Top 30 in Iain's last Guide are not featured on PoliticsHome. I don't need to name names.
Hi Paul - what Bob said basically.
You're right in that its a bit strange to expect a Tory to like left blogs, but then I don't constantly complain right-wing blogs are rubbish (I don't even read Iain Dale / GF much), because I think some are quite good, and then expect them to support me in some contest.
My list was somewhat different and included you, of course.
"Secondly, Iain is only the granddaddy of the blogosphere for two reasons - (1) Because Tim Worstall decided he didn't want to be any more,"
Eh? I was? I did?
Tim
No offence intended - it was merely a reference to the fact that while you wrote the original guide to the UK blogosphere, you didn't seem overly bothered when others (ie Iain) took on the mantle. Not that I'm suggesting you should have been.
Iain Dale's blog is over rated.
I guess we'll have to wait until after the weekend before we get comment on Glasgow East!
Oli.
Glasgow east is a political earthquake. I would put it at richter scale 2. The SNP have won many by elections before. It means zero. Big deal jocks vote for SNP protest party. Who gives a flying pig.
I like this blog because it reminds me of myself. Thanks for posting!
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