Surrey Conservatives and the Internet

Abstract

Chapter 6 details the first-hand observation of the participation of the researcher and others within the Runnymede, Weybridge and Spelthorne Conservative Group context in Surrey. The chapter features an analysis of the role of internet technologies in a local council by-election campaign in 2009 from the candidate’s perspective. It is argued that there was both an age and digital divide observable amid cohorts in the Surrey Conservatives and that trust and rapport building were central to dissolving cyber-based barriers to deeper engagement within local Conservative associations. It is found that the internet facilitated new network interactions that made association and campaign organization a looser and more fluid experience, which ultimately led to richer and more diverse campaign-based and social interactions in the offline world.