Comments on: Why I’m going dark for purdah

By: Mary Stevens

Mary Stevens — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:12:25 +0000

Steph,

Browsing for some pearls of wisdom on precisely this topic I was what a pleasure to stumble across a trusted voice!

I think your position is the wise one, but I do think Cabinet Office is missing an opportunity here, if the guidance is as cautious as I expect it will be. We had an internal presentation on this at CLG and practically every question asked from the floor threw up a new problem: what about government-sponsored forums for example,
especially those directed towards a young audience. Will there be no moderator intervention during purdah?

But as others have pointed out, purdah just brings into sharp relief the grey areas of civil servant engagement on the web more generally. As a recent joiner I’ve put quite a lot of thought into this recently. And I am increasingly of the view that it’s not just that the CS code doesn’t properly account for social media, there’s actual a wider problem with regulating and allowing for what you might broadly call ‘social movement’ politics generally. As the code currently stands you could make a case for no civil servant ever signing an on-line petition or contributing in a personal capacity to an online discussion on any political issue (in the broadest sense).

I understand and respect the value of an ‘impartial’ civil service but I’m not sure we are collectively best served by civil servants who are so wary of being tripped up or perceived as ‘disloyal’ they disengage from the wider debate. (And it’s particularly perplexing if you work in or with those bits of government that are about active citizenship – something that often feels like it’s supposed to apply to everyone else). If I were a lawyer no one would assume that having previously expressed an opinion on a subject prevented me from representing a client; it would be understood that I was governed by a code or practice that would lead me to serve my client to the best of my ability whatever my personal opinion. If government saw its civil servants as active citizens with in addition to their own views a strong sense of duty to the processes of effective democracy (rather than to a greater or lesser degree the enemy within) then the overall picture might be rather different.

Mary.

By: links for 2010-02-13 « A little Jack with that?

links for 2010-02-13 « A little Jack with that? — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:30:29 +0000

[...] Why I’m going dark for purdah Steph Gray, working in digital engagement in UK central government, writes: "When the General Election is called, and government enters the pre-election phase known as purdah, I’m going to suspend my personal blogging and tweeting at least until the results are announced. [...]

By: cyberdoyle

cyberdoyle — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:05:13 +0000

think you are probably right to keep a low profile, not so that you can keep your job, but that you don’t bring the service into disrepute, not that you would of course, but we all know how the meeja can twist the slightest thing out of context…
Until the old meeja is dead and the new media rule (2014?) I think you have made a wise choice. You can always follow and comment under a different name if you miss twitter.
Personally I am of so little importance nothing I say or tweet would be of the slightest interest to anyone, but I am going into purdah too once it starts, because I don’t want to lose any friends, and I think it is all gonna get very noisy out there.
I have already unfollowed nearly every politician of all parties because some tweet such nasty drivel. The ones left, like Tom Watson are ok, as are many councillors. The rest need some lessons. Job for your department?
Anyway great post as ever, and some great comments and pause for thought. Thanks for being human and sharing them.
chris

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:45:06 +0000

Being in your team I think we should follow your lead Steph but when does it kick in – when the election is called? Or effective immediately?

It’ll be interesting to see the impact of social media on this election, shame we can’t blog/tweet on it but I look forward to others doing so.

By: Matt Wardman

Matt Wardman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:24:03 +0000

On the other hand, the time when the politicians aren’t there could be the ideal time to be blogging and tweeting

By: Staying silent in Babel | Public Strategist

Staying silent in Babel | Public Strategist — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:07:29 +0000

[...] Steph Gray has raised the interesting question of what should happen to public sector social media activity during the election campaign which will be upon us in the next couple of months: When the General Election is called, and government enters the pre-election phase known as purdah, I’m going to suspend my personal blogging and tweeting at least until the results are announced. [...]

By: Dan Wood

Dan Wood — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:36:31 +0000

Steph, the more I think about it, the more I think you’re right: Purdah shouldn’t make a difference, but it probably does becasue of the potential for social media to be used for mischeif making, as I’ve set out here:

http://danwoodcomms.co.uk/2010/02/safety-first-for-election-2010/

Will be interesting to see if there are any social media casualties of Election 2010 – you’re right to make sure you’re not one of them.

By: Safety first for Election 2010

Safety first for Election 2010 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:27:27 +0000

[...] the sense – or otherwise – of personal blogging during election purdah. See Simon Wakeman and Steph Gray’s [...]

By: Steph

Steph — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:28:11 +0000

@Dan: Ah, you’ve exposed the logical flaw that was nagging at me while I was quoting the Civil Service Management Code in the reply above – yes indeed, if perceived impartiality is the issue, then it applies all year round.

I suppose my point remains that purdah (and reshuffles) are inherently *more dangerous* times because media, politicians and their staffers are looking for insider stories to make something out of. And in purdah, civil service management itself is particularly hot on watching out for how the troops behave.

By: Dan Wood

Dan Wood — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:25:51 +0000

Hi Steph,

As a former government communicator in the Dept of Health I think this is a really interesting issue. But I think are two issues wrapped up in the one discussion here.

The first is about the actual purpose of purdah – to prevent the incumbent party from using the machinery of government to get an unfair advantage in the election. It’s a government communicator’s job to promote, explain and defend the government’s policies. But once an election is called they’re no longer the government’s policies, they’re the policies of just one of the parties standing for election. Hence no government publicity campaigns, no big announcements, etc. Your personal blog is not part of the machinery of government.

The second is the need for public servants to be unbiased and to serve the administration of the day. But this should happen all year round, not just during purdah. The bit you highlight from the CS Management Code hits the nail on the head. But that applies all the time, not just during purdah, so as long as you stick the to the issues you’re covering now, I don’t see any reason why purdah should affect your blog.

But I won’t come to your blog looking for a warts-and-all insider’s view of how your ministers have lost the plot as election fever takes hold…