MP Joins the Blogging Phenomenon on a Running Start

6.09.59pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 18th Oct 2006

Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington, yesterday celebrated the launch of his new MySpace by simultaneously posting his first blog on both http://blog.myspace.com/tombrake and in the History Matters, 'A Day in History' archive.

Tom originally registered for a MySpace account last week, as a way to reach out to a larger number of constituents. Commenting on it, he said "MySpace has become an international phenomenon, and more MPs should be using this new form of communication technology to their advantage. Searching, I could find only two other MPs who have MySpace accounts, and one of them is a fellow Liberal Democrat."

"With my blog, I hope to give the public a window into the real-life experiences of an MP. They are often not as glamorous as one might first assume! In this day where so many people are dissatisfied with politics and feel unconnected to Westminster, this is an opportunity to try to engage the British public."

"Even more importantly, yesterday the History Matters Campaign gave everyone in Britain a chance to 'donate' their blog to the British Library's National Archives.

(http://www.historymatters.org.uk/output/Page96.asp). Yesterday's posts will go down in history as a record of everyday life in 2006, for future generations to find at the British Library. I am proud to have been a participant in this endeavour.'