Telegraph Hill’s Truescore tool looked at the online and
offline presence of 800 political voices, including MPs, broadcasters and
activists, to arrive at its list of the most influential political people in Britain.
They are:
1. David Cameron
2. Russell Brand
3. Boris Johnson
4. Ed Miliband
5. Nicola Sturgeon
6. Nick Clegg
7. Jon Snow
8. Owen Jones
9. Nigel Farage
10. David Miliband
This doesn't indicate popularity. It does, though, indicate how much people are being talked about.
It's not surprising then that the prime minister is at the top of the list. At least at present, for good or ill, he's the man at the head of the UK government.
Fascinating though, that in second place we have Russell Brand, who is advocating a whole new politics, but is, after all, really a comedian, actor and chat show host.
It's probably pretty impressive that the First Minister makes it to number 5 in the UK, given that her remit only covers less than a tenth of the population. She must be making people think and tweet in other countries of the union.
I can imagine why the minority figure of Nigel Farage has made it into the chart, on controversy interest, but it's beyond my comprehension why David Miliband would make it into the top 100, never mind top ten, given that he gave up his seat in parliament and let his constituents down to take a highly paid job in New York, when his brother beat him to be Labour leader. He's not even mildly interesting.
A wee suggestion for David, given his politics: Cameron has said he will only go on for the next few years, so there will be a vacancy in the Tory party. He should apply to lead it. He's more suited to the job. And he can take his right wing mate Murphy with him.
Hearty congratulations to Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, for being remembered by anyone besides his friends and family.
