This article was published on April 21, 2010

Liberal Democrat supporters launch site to grab geek votes


Liberal Democrat supporters launch site to grab geek votes

With just two weeks until the UK General Election, there’s been little talk from the three main parties about issues like technology and science. A group of Liberal Democrat campaigners are moving to change that situation with the launch of a new site aimed directly at geeks.

Geek the Vote declares that “Times are tough for geeks” and goes on to list six Liberal Democrat policies that the organisers believe will grab geeks’ votes. These include repealing the Digital Economy Bill, championing women in science and technology, and supporting free speech for scientists.

Although Geek the Vote isn’t an official campaign website of the Liberal Democrat party, the site’s founders state “We think the Liberal Democrats have the strongest case for building a geek-friendly Britain and encouraging and retaining more young people, especially women, in careers in science and technology.”

The site has been pulled together over the past 24 hours via a party activists’ website. Beyond listing “geek-friendly” Liberal Democrat policies, a blog and pulling in Twitter activity around the campaign, there’s little more to the site at present. However, in an election season where technology issues have largely been ignored by all main parties, it’s an admirable move and we’d love to see the party adopt the site as an official part of its campaign.

The “geek vote” may make up a small proportion of the overall electorate but it’s an influential one and as much small parties like the Pirate Party UK aim to address its needs, major political parties should really look to woo those of us in the technology and science sectors a little more effectively.

[Thanks, @GaryTomWilliams]

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