Political parties 'not using web effectively'

Politicians and political parties are failing to use the web to engage voters ahead of May's general election, according to research.

The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) survey found that 79 per cent of people asked could not recall seeing any emails, adverts or websites from the main parties.

Fewer people in the 18- to 24-year-old (65 per cent) bracket felt the same, however.

This is despite 40 per cent of the 2,550 respondents in the study saying that they would like more opportunity to interact with the political parties online.

One in four people said they didn't think politicians or the parties used the web well at all for online electioneering and a further 52 per cent were unsure of how effective it actually was.

The survey also found that 44 per cent of people would be more likely to vote in an election if they were able to do so online. This could increase the amount of voters by eight million.

Jonathan Kestenbaum, NESTA's chief executive said: "Although it's being talked of as a 'digital election', political parties are falling short in delivering what voters want online.

"Currently, they are using tactical measures such as buying Google AdWords to raise brand awareness but the internet provides the means to have a much more dynamic dialogue with voters," he continued.

The Conservative website was found to be the worst performing site of the main political parties during March in a study by Site Confidence.