by Holly Smith
As you may well know we’ve just published How To Be An MP, a witty look at how to survive life in the House of Commons, by veteran MP Paul Flynn.
Are you starting to think someone should write a sequel, called ‘How to Work for an MP’? Because although you might have thought that it goes without saying, the correct way to work for an MP probably doesn’t involve the whole of Twitter joining forces to save your job, as happened this afternoon when Tom Watson’s intern decided to “twit-rape” Mr Watson (their words, not mine).
Tom Watson’s intern isn’t the only one. Who remembers Diane Abbott’s “over enthusiastic staffer” retweeting a YouGov poll during the two minutes silence on Armistice Day? The “junior” member of staff responsible for Ed Miliband’s brilliant “Blackbusters” tweet? Whilst the horror of these errors might have been a good character-building experience, it’s probably for the best that someone shows these novices how it’s done.
We could make it a series. “How to use Twitter if you’re an MP”. “Why it isn’t a good idea to let anyone who isn’t you get hold of your social media login details, especially if you’re an MP”. “How to use Twitter if you are connected to an MP in any way”. “How to use Twitter if you’re young and once handed out a leaflet for a political party and the organisers thought ‘there’s a young person, quickly get a picture of them with a rosette so we’ll seem young too’ and therefore a Twitpic of you raising your glass at a party will result in a national headline, accompanied by the rosette picture, along the lines of ‘young Conservative/Labourite/Liberal Democrat put their hand a bit in the air and is probably a Nazi and why are young people drinking anyway?’”.
Until that day comes do the right thing and buy Paul Flynn’s How To Be an MP.
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