Review 2009: January – March

From @LabourList

In the first of four posts running up to New Year’s Eve, LabourList is taking a look at a selection of the best work from across the political blogoscape that reported – and made – the political news in 2009. Alex Smith has also selected some of his own favourites in his review of LabourList’s progress this year.

Here we focus on the first three months of 2009: the improvements in Labour’s online presence, a developing economic crisis and a number of MPs and peers drawn into the first of the year’s lobbying and expenses scandals.

January

• 11th – PR consultant and Labour supporter Stuart Bruce welcomes the beta version of LabourList.
• 19th – Devil’s Kitchen is aghast at the return of Kenneth Clarke to the Conservative front bench.
• 24th – Two Jags becomes 2.0 Jags as John Prescott starts his Go Fourth campaign blog.
• 24th – While the BBC comes under attack for refusing to televise an emergency appeal for aid to Gaza, Tom Harris argues that any reversal must be for the right reasons.
• 26th – Luke Akehurst thinks a failure to reform the Lords contributed to a cash-for-lobbying scandal in the upper house.
• 28th – After Peter Mandelson’s car industry rescue plan provided £2.3bn for the beleaguered industry, Dave Osler argues against self imposed limitations on Keynesian intervention.
• 30th – With strike at Lindsey oil refinery over the use of foreign workers, Stumbling and Mumbling argues that recessions bring an increase in hostility to immigrants.
• 31st – Some months before fate would intervene, Tory Bear pours scorn on John Bercow’s “one man crusade” to become Commons Speaker.

February

• 8th – As Alastair Campbell learns the ropes of social media he blogs about the camaraderie of online communities.
• 9th – Daniel Hannan argues that criticism of MPs expenses has gone too far.
• 9th – With Conservative thinker Phillip Blond attaining prominence with a cover story in Prospect magazine, Sunder Katwala ponders how to make pale pink Toryism red (more here).
• 10th – John Prescott urges RBS not to pay out £1bn in bonuses.
• 11th – The Huffington Post becomes the first ever blog to ask a question of an American President at a news conference.
• 16th – Lib Dem Joe Taylor argues for the full nationalisation of Lloyds, HBOS and RBS.
• 18th – The expenses scandal gathers more momentum as the Standards Commissioner investigates Jacqui Smith.

March

• 1st – Blackburn Labour pointed the left blogosphere in the direction of a Tory logo generator.
• 1st – Nick Anstead writes on the Labour movement’s first major conference on blogging and internet activism.
• 2nd – Hopi Sen posts on post: the proposed part privatisation of Royal Mail.
• 4th – Tom Harris generates a storm of controversy – and 331 blog comments – with his post on teenage pregnancy.
• 24th – Luke Akehurst blogs on the need for a Labour “Trot infestation strategy” but Bob Piper is not impressed.
• 25th – Tory MEP Daniel Hannan’s speech to Gordon Brown goes viral while Next Left argues that it is Hannan, not the Prime Minister, who is “devalued”.
• 31st – Rupa Huq takes (the increasingly prominent) Eric Pickles to task on expenses hypocrisy, a poor appearance on Question Time and a the arrest of a parliamentary guest.