Local MP's website wins top award

27.08.02

Edward Davey, Lib Dem MP for Kingston and Surbiton, has expressed his delight at his website winning the New Statesman's New Media Award.

Edward Davey's website won the top award in the "Elected Representative" category. The mastermind behind his website is a local councillor, Mary Reid. Mary is also Executive Member for Participation and Communication on Kingston Council, responsible for the Council's new e-Government policy. Another of the websites she worked on was runner-up.

Edward Davey's website includes details of his twice-weekly advice sessions, news on his local campaigning and the facility for constituents to send him a message. Edward Davey commented:

"As a local MP, it is absolutely essential I communicate with my constituents, and the internet is an increasingly important way of doing this.

"A website works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In a constituency where around half of households already have internet access this service has changed from being an "add-on" to being essential.

"I've found having a website quite challenging - it has, for example, generated a huge amount of extra work as more people find it easier to contact me. Yet rather than prevent that, I'm trying to embrace it - though sometimes it takes a while to reply to every single email I receive!

"I'm exceedingly grateful to Mary. Without her help, the website wouldn't have been built so quickly - and it certainly would not have won this prestigious prize. Mary and I now plan to develop more services from the site - so do keep visiting!"

Councillor Mary Reid commented:

"When we launched the website three years ago only a handful of MPs were using the Internet, so we had few models to draw on. This gave us a wonderful opportunity to innovate and to exploit the interactive nature of the medium. Constituents can give their opinions on current issues and can sign petitions, as well as raise their own concerns with Edward. We aim to provide lots of information and have now built up an extensive searchable archive of news and opinion."