On 6 February, Bradford East MP David Ward (Liberal Democrat) asked the government about economic benefits for Bradford from HS2, and received a boilerplate soundbite answer.
Mr Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that Bradford and Leeds-Bradford airport receive the maximum potential economic benefit from Phase 2 of High Speed 2.
George Galloway is angry. Events last week caused him to fume, rage, shake his hoary locks and take, with vehemence, with ire, with a passion normally reserved for the US Senate, to Twitter.
@jay_bfd I represent Bradford West. The City. We have been cheated by this. We will neither forget nor forgive
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) January 17, 2013
“I represent Bradford West. The City. We have been cheated by this. We will neither forget nor forgive”
What on Earth could’ve appalled the usually unflappable and unshakeable Mr Galloway? Was it the cap on benefits which will affect hundreds in his constituency? As a socialist lion, defender of the poor and the weak; as MP for Bradford West, an area with one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country; as vanquisher of Tories, berating them for “supporting the attack on the poorest members of society who [subsidise] the rich”, bellowing the call to arms: “A caring society has a duty to protect and support the most vulnerable members”, one would assume so. But, no – Mr Galloway was unable to make the five hour debate and subsequent vote as he was in Egypt (I believe).
Mr Galloway, angered and enraged, berated and vilified the route of the Tour de France (TdF).
An anger – a white hot ball of fury which burns and builds and rises and pulsates within me now as I write; superior to and surpassing Mr Galloway’s own ire in size and strength and intensity – exploded in the pit of my stomach as he told the world that “We”, citizens of Bradford, would “neither forget nor forgive” the TdF for not entering our city’s walls.
“How dare this man..?” I thought; “How dare this man..?” I think now. “How dare this man say that, think that, spread that? How dare that man presume to speak for me?” I scream inside, my maniacal inner monologue reverberating around my head like banshee in a box.
And then I have to walk away from Twitter, lay down in a darkened room and place a moistened flannel across my brow.
“Why?” you may ask. Well, as I see it, there are three reasons for Mr Galloway’s mephitic musings to enrage me so.
Divisive and Ignorant
Firstly, these remarks are divisive. “Bradford West” abhors TdF’s decision to visit up the valley; “The City” is appalled by le Tour in Keighley, Ilkley, Haworth and more. Mr Galloway’s comments drive a wedge between ‘us’ and ‘them’, and when they are more than our neighbours, more like our flatmates, such a contentious position can only cause harm in a District with its fair share of fissures.
Not content with deriding the decision, he calls foul on the payment which Bradford METROPLOITAN Council put into the pot, saying that those people – our friends and family and workmates in Airedale and Wharfedale – have “robbed” the city, as it’s Bradford West which will pay the lion’s share.
@broadleytom88 I do. So does the City of #Bradford. After all we are paying for most of it
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) January 18, 2013
I was embarrassed by this. Embarrassed and ashamed. I go to The Alhambra, St George’s Hall, and The Industrial Museum – does he think people in Keighley and Ilkley don’t pay for this? His constituency got a £30m City Park – is he offering for us to pay back BMDC tax payers, because I certainly don’t have £30m kicking around and I don’t think anyone else round here does either. Bradford gets little but ignored from the government, and I know many people in Keighley and Bingley believe what little comes is spent and used in the city. The relationship is viewed by many in much the same was as that of Bradford and Leeds’, with Keighley being the Cinderella to the overbearing, greedy ugly sister. So, for ‘us’ to tell ‘them’ that ‘we’ will neither forgive nor forget their success caused my blood to boil. Vile, rude, obnoxious, short-sighted and ignorant, his divisive comments made me incandescent with rage.
Unrealistic and Unhelpful
Secondly, his desires were unrealistic. People more knowledgeable than me have said that TdF rarely visits cities in the middle of the route (though I did see it in Angoulemme a few years back) due to the logistics of blocking of a city centre for hours on end with no fixed timescale (although, of course, this happens at the finish line). Also, the route planners want speed, with wide, open shots of flying cyclists careering down roads at eye-watering velocity, allowing for big, expansive shots to justify the big, expensive TV helicopter – you can’t have that in a city.
What galled me most, though, was his lack of knowledge and understanding of just how ignored we have been. We are massive, yet unknown; we are huge, yet ignored. When a little money seeps out of Whitehall, it is lapped up voraciously by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and what droplets are left are sucked up greedily Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. I fully expected to see a route which absolutely, consciously, unequivocally avoided Bradford – because that’s what happens to us. But no, we get something. Hell, we get two days of TdF passing through our lands. We should be overjoyed because, finally, after decades of underinvestment, feeding off scraps sent north which roll from time to time from Leeds’ table, we got something – we got something big.
And Mr Galloway’s comments must make the people of Welcome to Yorkshire wonder why the hell they threw us a bone because they just got it chucked back at their heads.
Destructive and Damaging
Bradford – the city – is not on the route. I understand this. But does that mean we can’t make hay while the TdF sun shines?
Ilkley, Keighley, Haworth, Silsden are all in Bradford – and we have to make sure that Bradford is mentioned often on TV and in the news.
And where’s better than Bradford to stay for le Tour? Tons of hotel rooms, relatively cheap, excellent road, rail and air links from Europe, the North and the whole country to a number of astonishingly scenic locations which will be visited on both days. If we’re being marketers here, we’ve a sedate nightlife which will titillate on demand but isn’t loud enough to intrude once your personal partying’s done. Apres le Tour, we have museums, gardens, a World Heritage Site, and we’re the City of Film – we are the perfect place for the TdF day tripper, the long weekend visitor or the touring holidaymaker to make a base.
And George Galloway came out enraged, making out the Tour’s coming nowhere near us, that we have nothing to do with it, and we are as remote from the Tour as London Stanstead is to Bow Bells. People will come, far and wide, to se le Tour – we should all be welcoming them, attracting them, inviting them to stay in Bradford. They should stay in Ilkley and Haworth and Keighley and Silsden – because that’s where the Tour’s going. But there’ll be many, many more who will come and wonder where to stay and those places only have so many beds and restaurants and attractions, and many will want a city stay over one in a pleasant town.
If only there was a city nearby, within 15minutes’ drive or train ride where TdF trippers could lay their heads and fill their tums. There is – it just appears from Mr Galloway that it’s Leeds.
For his constituents, there are less tangible benefits, too. Forster Square and Frizinghall are 15minutes away from the action – get some kids on a train (or even better on a bike) and up to the action: let them see a world event on their doorstep. Youth unemployment is high, and what benefit a couple of days as Tour Maker could make to a kid’s CV. The Tour’s up the road, yes, but the cultural and entertainment extravaganza need not be confined there
So, why did he do it?
The answer is simple. He stated himself: “I’m trying to get us something”. And it was that tweet which made me question my bile. His heart, you see, is in the right place – but, f–k me, what an entirely wrong way to go about it.
@atkiteach @paulmccolgan no I’m trying to get us something
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) January 18, 2013
George, what do you want and who do want it from? Do you want something from the people of Airedale who pay for your theatres; or the people of Wharfedale who subsidise your city centre’s Growth Zone; or from the tourist bosses based in Leeds who just threw Bradford a steak and got it slung back with a request for pepper sauce and a handjob; or from the Tour de France who, quite frankly, don’t give a shit what you want?
And that ball of anger suddenly recedes into a pip of anguish cocooned in a gossamer shawl of pity… for George… the little boy who doesn’t know what he wants or who he wants it from – he just wants something from someone and he doesn’t care who he hurts to get it.
Bradford Question Time will give you the chance to question Bradford’s political, cultural, economic and social leaders via Twitter, see how they respond, and comment on their answers.
How does #BDQT work?
Each month, four guests will be invited to take one of the #BDQT Twitter accounts. They will answer and discuss your questions, which will be put them them by the moderator.
At points, @BDQTMod may retweet some of the comments made by the audience following, asking for comments from the guests.
At least a portion of each #BDQT will be open, and questions asked can be about anything. However, some #BDQTs will be themed, with a good proportion of the time and questions being centred around one idea, story or aspect of Bradford life.
When is #BDQT?
#BDQT is monthly, usually taking place at the very end or start of the month. It’s scheduled to coincide with #BradfordHour (Thursdays 8-9pm) to allow Bradford’s businesses and cultural outlets who use #BradfordHour the greatest exposure to Bradfordians online.
The very first #BDQT will be on Thursday 31st January 8-9pm.
Do make sure you join us.
Who will the guests be?
The guests will change from month to month, but will be drawn from the vast pools of eminent Bradfordians and those who drive and comment upon Bradford. Guests representing politics, business, the arts, society and more will be invited to take part.
To find out who the guests are and what the theme of the month is, follow @BDQTMod and keep an eye out during #BradfordHour (Thursdays 8-9pm) for updates and announcements.
How do I ask a question?
If you’ve got a question, tweet it to @BDQTMod using #BDQT.
Questions can be about anything you think deserves an answer. If it’s about Bradford & District, it’s for #BDQT.
You may choose to see what the theme is, or see who’s going to on, and if you’re question’s not chosen for the subsequent #BDQT, it may be used in future. Remember, a question doesn’t have to be on the theme of the event – it can be about anything Bradford.
What if I don’t have a Twitter account?
The Titterfeed #BDQT will be picked up and published by the excellent Hidden Bradford website, and you can read the tweets, and even comment on them, there.
What do I need to do now?
Following the #BDQT Twitterfeeds would be a good start.
Most new information will come via @BDQTMod, so make sure you’re following that account. Any news released via the other feeds will be retweeted by @BDQTMod.
Also follow the other the #BDQT accounts. These are the accounts from which our guests will tweet. They are @BDQTGuest1, @BDQTGuest2, @BDQTGuest3 and @BDQTGuest4.
Think up a question you’d like to put to our panel and tweet it to @BDQTMod, using #BDQT. If you’ve got a suggestion for someone to be on the panel, let us know.
Check for updates and announcements from @BDQTMod, usually during #BradfordHour (Thursdays 8-9pm).
Finally, and most importantly, make sure you join in with Bradford Question Time – without you, #BDQT’s nothing.
I do a lot of complaining – I’m a Yorkshireman so it’s part of my cultural identity. I’ll get angry (through my aptly titled Angry of Bradford Twitterfeed) about how Bradford’s either ignored or vilified by the media; how governments preside over decline rather than drive us forward; how little has changed some of our lowest points were highlighted in 1990s and early 2000s. I whinge and I moan. I wonder how such a large city and district has been allowed to rot, falling further than virtually any other city during the 20th Century; how Bradfordians have been left behind; how we, once so rich, so opulent, so important, became so poor, so hidden, so ignored. I moan and I whinge. But why?
Below, I’ll have a whinge and a moan about my favourite topic, Bradford, but look wider at Yorkshire and wonder why we’re overlooked as a county, nay, the county of the country.
Massive
I’ve tried to never go down the route of pre-sheikh Manchester City fans who bleated about their “massive club” whilst in the shadow of the Red Devils – but perhaps I should have. I found figures which startled me. Bradford is England’s 5th largest and the UK’s 6th largest district. I really had no idea! How could it be that such a large and populous region is treated like this by governments and media?
Geography is the simple, but not sole, answer. We’re in the North, the provinces, the badlands, and far from the London-centric gaze, whose eyes focus intensely on the capital barring brief, fleeting glances at the South-East or the even less occasional peek at Gaelic matters, in which we do not figure. More than this, we’re in the shadow of Leeds – the centre of regional employment, culture, prosperity and importance. Were we more remote, further from the UK’s third city, maybe we’d get more investment, more media coverage, more, more, more. Maybe.
As it stands, much of Bradford’s money is spent in Leeds city centre or Meadowhall, because Bradford has nothing comparable. Much of our culture is found in Leeds, bizarrely as Bradford’s cultural bounty is comparable, and even finer in many respects. Much of our investment is scraps falling from Leeds’ table.
Yorkshire
But what goes for Bradford goes for Yorkshire, including Leeds.
A look at the the table linked above shows just how big we are, and yet are ignored.
Leeds (3), Sheffield (5) and Bradford (6) appear in the top 10, with Kirklees (11), Wakefield (15) and the East Riding (19) in the top 20. Nowhere, not the South-East, not the Midlands, not Scotland nor Wales nor Northern Ireland have such coverage, so why are we allowing ourselves to be dictated to, mismanaged and ignored?
Tha can allus tell a Yorkshireman but tha can’t tell ‘im much goes the saying. So what is it about us that makes us take this crap from soft Southern Nancys? Perhaps the pride, the outward bravado, the hubris of the Yorkshireman hides an inner lack of self-confidence and self-belief. Hard to imagine, I know, but what else could explain our ability to be kept down?
Is Yorkshire’s geography a problem, similar to Bradford’s problem? Yes. We’re in the North, so we’re forgotten. Politically, Labour has us sewn up so, as is shown by Bradford’s decline, we are ignored or treated with contempt by the Tories, and Labour takes us for granted. Culturally, we’re an irrelevance – we’re flat caps and whippets and nowt else, despite Hockney and Brontes and Priestley and, and, and… In sports, we’re an oddity, with Yorkshire famously being the heart and soul of Britain’s summer Olympics haul (finishing 12th in the medals table), the most famous county cricket club and its rugby league clubs always leading the way; yet we are without a Premiership team in union or football.
We’ve more people than Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and we’re larger than Northern Ireland, but we don’t have the jingoism and identity of nationhood to draw on. We have a deep, rich culture, and have furthered the Arts in line, at least, with our size and status, yet it’s Livercool and Madchester and Cool Britannia (for which can be read London) which take the plaudits.
Yorkshire Backward or Yorkshire Forward?
So what can we do, as Bradfordians, Leodensians, Sheffielders, Yorkists, et al, to have our voices heard, to have our culture recognised, to take our place near the top of the nation rather than at its feet?
Culturally, Yorkshire and Bradford need to step up. We have everything anyone could want, yet we choose to keep quiet about it. We have scenery and countryside far superior to anywhere in the land, and far easier to reach for most than the hills of Scotland and the lakes of Cumbria – so let’s sell the Dales and the Moors and the Peak District as well as the dales and the moors and the peaks we have on our doorsteps. Let’s tell the world of the literature of Haworth and Bradford and Huddersfield and Scarborough.
In the media, we are ignored or vilified. Bradford District, 500,000 people strong, will soon lose the full-time presence of the national media when the BBC leave the National Media Museum. Our reputation is so low, media students are scared to walk our streets. And with West Yorkshire having such a huge population, low cost housing, fantastic road, rail & air links, the UNESCO City of Film, the National Media Museum, and much, much, more, why did the BBC choose Salford / Manchester? Why are BBC jobs going to Manchester when we, in Yorkshire, have got more and better to offer? Why are BBC flagship programmes, like Dr Who, made in Wales? Yorkshire could be the hub of new technologies, with Leeds and Bradford selling themselves as super-connected cities. Building on UNESCO City of Film and making the BBC give us something in return for its abandonment of Bradford, with the benefits listed above, why can’t we get some investment, some interest, some love from the media?
Politically, it’s time to take on the political parties, and challenge them to do something for us for a change. I voted for George Galloway’s Respect Party and am angry I got more of the same. I want someone to talk about Bradford and Yorkshire and the North, not brush us under a carpet. I want the Tories to understand that there’s a world outside the Home Counties and see what their policies are doing to us – and stop and listen and think… and change. I want Labour to stop trying to be the Tories and stop taking us for granted and, for God’s sake, stop sending empty shirts to their heartlands – we need candidates with warm blood and fire in their bellies who will argue and fight for us – I want a candidate with Galloway’s zeal for publicity who will put us on the map. I want Respect to do what it promised and put us in the national media, for reasons other than gaffes by its figurehead. We have millions of votes, so why do the main parties ignore us, then vilify us when we pick minor, especially extreme, ones who ostensibly talk to us but really prey on our fears and the main parties’ ineffectualness? Tell the Tories, Labour, Lib-Dems, Respect that they’re doing nothing for us so we won’t vote for them. Tell Labour to remember where their heart is and send us some living, breathing candidates; tell the Tories they owe us for killing us in the 1980s; tell Respect they promised to put us on the map. And tell them all to F-off until they do.
Educationally, we should be outraged at what we’ve been subjected to. Bradford languishes at the bottom of league tables year after year. I asked the local government what they were doing after the District’s schools were once again lambasted and had dropped to second worst in the country (according to OfSTED); they said that schools are improving and that league tables don’t tell the whole story. I asked the national government what they were doing specifically for Bradford; they are doing nothing… except they want all our schools to be turned into academies. When London’s schools were awful, it was described as an “emergency” by Tony Blair and they got The London Challenge with experts and inter-agency working and money, money, money. Bradford, a District of over 500k people and the city with youngest demographic in the country, gets platitudes and ignored. In the wider country, 8/10 of the worst performing Local Authorities are in the North (and now none are in London). And what do we get? Moves to bring our teachers’ pay down; an end to Building Schools for the Future (when the South and London’s projects went ahead earlier and with less trouble); ignored. Demand better! Demand that your governments, local and national, invest in our children’s futures. Demand change! In Bradford, doing what everyone else is doing isn’t working – so let’s not do that. ‘One size doesn’t fit all’ is a mantra for teachers, because every child is an individual – so why are Bradford and many other places in the North following a path which leads them nowhere. If it’s broken, fix it; if it can’t be fixed, throw it away and get something new. We need a revolution in education and if we don’t get it, we’ll always sink to the bottom.
Employment in the North is appalling. Bradford West’s unemployment is one of the highest in the country… and rising. Across the North, in the last recession, for every job lost in the South, 10 were lost in the North. Bradford is believed to be one of the least affected areas in the country this time around… because we haven’t got over the last one yet. When we get it right with kids, there aren’t the places to employ them. Every year, Bradford sends children to some of the best universities in the country, but where do they go afterwards? They rarely return, with the District’s Oxbridge students choosing the university towns or London, using their brains and spending their money elsewhere. Investment in making West Yorkshire a bastion of new technologies, our low rents (far more attractive than the high prices of London) will start drawing in start-ups, and if we educate our children to take advantage of this, we can become British Silicone Valley, with other industries rising on their tide. If this isn’t an option, what is? We need something to replace the manufacturing jobs lost; we need a plan.
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
To be noticed, though, the cities of Yorkshire might have to bite the bullet. If we’re not to keep the status quo, cities and towns with deep seated identities may have to lose some of that individuality, at least to outsiders, and work with the giant of the neighbourhood, trusting them to work in their interests and the greater interest of the region – something difficult for a Bradfordian to stomach. Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, even York, may have to embrace their role as a minor player in Leeds City Region, working with the Loiners to ensure they get their fair share; Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster, can you trust the Dee-Dars to do your bidding?
It’ll be a tightrope act to ensure that the lesser boroughs get the investment and money and support they need more than the main, named party. But, as much as I dislike the insidious title of Leeds City Region (why not Yorkshire Region, York City Region, York & West Yorkshire Region?), I believe we’ll get more scraps from Leeds’ dining table, and maybe even a square meal or two, than we do from Westminster’s.
So all this started with a table, a table which showed us, Bradford, and us, Yorkshire, as being bigger than the rest – and I already knew we were better. But now it’s time to act like it, and now it’s time to show it.
“Vote Respect” they told me. “Vote Respect and vote for change” is what they said. And Vote Respect I did. Well, for me, a Respect voter, there’s been a change. It’s not been good.
I wasn’t apathetic, knowing a bit about local and national politics, but it was always something for someone else, something for somebody, somewhere, to ‘do’ and for me to, like as not, complain about.
But then, along came George. He empowered me. He told me he’d stick up for me. He told me he’d sort out my city, its unemployment and its education. He told me I wasn’t just an individual, but I was part of the Bradford Spring. He told me he’d do something, he’d shout about my issues, and he’d fight against those three buttocks of the same arse. He told me he’d be my MP, working for me and my city.
Well, it’s not like that.
On the other side of the election, having a Respect MP is quite different.
In Bradford, we’ve become pretty disillusioned with Gorgeous George. I knew there’d be complaints about him. I mean, he’d stuck it to the man. The left, the right and the centre complained about him. I expected that, I mean, he was fighting ‘them’, wasn’t he?
But it quickly became clear that he was fighting, well, everyone, including his own constituents and his own party.
I liked having an MP I could contact at a moment’s notice. George knows the importance of social media. He credited Twitter with his landslide win. Maybe that’s why Lee Jasper has allegedly been using Tweet-bots to pretend he’s got more support than he has. A few times, I even used that outlet. I’d ask him about ‘this’, and he’d get back to me. I asked him about ‘that’, and he answered me. Then, I asked him about claims made in the Guardian about what Respect was up to in Bradford. Accusations had been made that Respect Party activists had been calling up rape victims in the middle of the night to ask them if they were supporting a speech against George’s “sexual etiquette” comments, intimidating them, taking photos of them and posting them on Facebook. I wanted it to be untrue. I asked him (just once; just one tweet) about these claims and those that said the women who’d be so instrumental in his victory were being hounded out, forcibly removed, overlooked, overshadowed. All this was a request to refute the Guardian’s claims.
His response? He blocked me.
I felt, well, outraged. You see, George says he blocks only racists, swearers, sectarians. It seems, increasingly, that he also blocks his constituents who disagree with him, ask him to do something for his adopted city, or request that he does more for Bradford.
I laughed it off, got my “Blocked by Galloway” twibbon, and moved on.
Today, though, I needed my MP’s help. Bradford is to lose its BBC production team, having them moved to Leeds. Radio Leeds and BBC Asian Network will, from March, no longer have a place in the wonderful National Media Museum, but will be relocated to an office block in Leeds. That hurt. It would leave the National Media Museum, a large city and the country’s fourth largest metropolitan district without the national broadcaster. I was distraught! I was angry!
I bashed off tweets and emails to the council, the Media Select Committee, the BBC, Lord Patten and Bradford’s MPs including my own, George Galloway.
George Galloway responded.
My MP’s advice:
@georgegalloway I know little about politics but I do expect #Bradford‘s MP to work for Bradford & not patronise & belittle his constituents
— John Atkinson (@AtkiTeach) November 27, 2012
In a few tweets (which you’ll see on my work account (@atkiteach) – my personal one (BD_Angry) having been already blocked), he blamed Labour, he blamed the council, he blamed the Tories and the LibDems; he told me he had no power to do anything. Again, he told me to read up on British politics. (How could I, a constituent, expect him, my MP, to do anything about it?).
I felt belittled, patronised and rubbished. I felt that my concerns were not shared, considered or thought worthy of a moment’s notice by my MP.
And finally… he blocked me… again.
So, it seems, I’m a double, bigot, a double racist, a double swearer… or, maybe, a double Bradfordian – the latter a badge I’ll gladly wear with pride.
@atkiteach @georgegalloway Galloway is being massively disingenuous. His campaign literature suggested voting for him would achieve things
— Bradford Geek (@bradfordgeek) November 27, 2012
This week, as you go to the polls and consider voting for Lee Japser (Respect (George Galloway) Party) or Yvonne Ridley (Respect (George Galloway) Party), have a think about what you’ll get. I voted for George Galloway. I voted for Respect.
Today, I didn’t get George Galloway and I certainly got no respect.
Music, acrobats, trapeze artists and death-defying stunts, all played out 200ft in the air… exactly the outlandish, outrageous performances we’ve come to expect in Bradford’s wonderful City Park. I knew this year’s Christmas lights Switch-On would be quite a show but, my word, I was left aghast, amazed and awestruck by Trans Express and the wonders they performed.
We joined the thousands already gathered just in time to hear a couple of songs belted out by a children’s choir who warmed the throng before Bradford Festival Choral Society got us all well into a yuletide mood with a wonderful repertoire of Christmas classics.
Well, it’s over. I’ve recorded how our local politicians have used social media, namely Twitter, to sell our wonderful city and fabulous district. I challenged them to retweet, share and crow what’s great. The results have been, well, interesting.
I started off the week by saying was a silly game – which it was – but that it had a more serious message. I’ve written about Bradford Council’s use of social before and, quite quickly, pointed out that it left something to be desired. This week was about local leaders leading in the use of social media, a hugely inexpensive and beneficial way to sell, support and show off our district. I hoped that they would see what BMDC media officers, people and companies were saying about us, and share what was great; in the longer term, I hope that the politicians who have, arguably, change their tweeting habits this week will continue to use twitter to share our positives – as Dave Green said, the proof of the pudding will be if they are still doing it next week.
So, to the round up.
Dave Green, Leader of the Council, was again daily leader – 458 points cemented his place atop the table. If there’s been a success story from this week, Dave Green’s it. He’s always been really approachable on Twitter and long conversations about council business are frequently played out in the Twittersphere, but he’d rarely use it to advertise events, including retweeting Bradford Council tweets. This week, his twitterfeed is now buzzing with what’s great about Bradford – and I truly hope he’ll keep it up. Dave, well done and thank you very much for showing all your followers what’s great about Bradford.
@123jg4 @bd_angry. The proof of the pudding will be if I’m still doing it next week when @bd_angry gets a life and stops his comp
— David Green (@dave4wibsey) November 1, 2012
Mohammad Shabbir in silver position didn’t do what I expected. I thought that in showing politicians how easy and quick it is to retweet other accounts; Cllr Shabbir picked out what’s great about Bradford, particularly in his home ward of Heaton & Frizinghall (which is also my ward). If you’d like an example of how powerful these tweets can be, it was Cllr Shabbir’s reminding me of la Rue in Saltaire which sent us there last night. Thank you for selling Bradford.
@visitbradford 17. La Rue restaurant in Saltaire it’s fantastic the three course meal great value and sticky toffee pudding, yum
— Mohammad Shabbir (@cllrshabbir) October 31, 2012
Susan Hinchcliffe knows the power of social media and always uses it to good effect. Part of her portfolio is culture and, as always, money for media doesn’t flow free so she’s a frequent retweeter of all that’s good. With her, the competition hardly changed her tweeting habits: she’s always that good. This week, she gets bronze – thank you for selling Bradford.
Ralph Berry (4th) and Simon Cooke (5th) make up the rest of City Hall. Ralph Berry, I think, has certainly upped his retweeting this week – I hope it’ll continue. Simon Cooke was never going to be browbeaten into changing and has kept up his steady, unfailing tweeting about Bradford, just as he did before and just as will after. Thank you both for selling Bradford.
@bd_angry @bradfordia …not being browbeaten into tweeting just to get a score. Check my timeline – I do plenty promotion of #Bradford
— Simon Cooke (@SimonMagus) October 30, 2012
A gap appeared early on in the week. Local councillors were much more likely to be tweeting about Bradford than their Parliamentary colleagues. This is a shame because, broadly speaking, they have more followers and the followers they have are more likely to be outside the district, so tweets from them sell us further and wider.
Top of the MPs was David Ward in 6th place. He was the only MP to breach 100 points (122 on Thursday was good, but it’s only 12 RTs advertising the district) and was great in showing Bradford’s importance nationally as it’s still at the heart of the textiles trade which brought it riches in the last two centuries. Thank you for selling Bradford.
When it comes to George Galloway, 7th, with 90,000 followers from across the globe, endorsements and advertisements from him ring out. If we could only get him to tweet more about Bradford, we’d have a huge, powerful way of communicating what’s great about us. With a truly international following, he can show off our wares which are of truly international standard. Mr Galloway knows the importance of social media and knows how it can sway opinion and gather momentum behind a cause, so it would be wonderful if he was retweeting Bradford’s best bits without having to be asked. However, as second in the MPs list, thank you for selling Bradford.
Gerry Sutcliffe (8) and Philip Davies (9) did tweet about Bradford. In fact, Mr Sutcliffe’s tweet about Bradford’s Curry Capital win was retweeted tens of times, showing how powerful this medium is in sharing and spreading what we’ve got. As a novice tweeter, I hope this will keep him tweeting and get him tweeting more about Bradford. Philip Davies tweets a great deal, mainly about politics (as you’d expect), but as an excellent local MP (in my opinion – he was my MP before recent boundary changes) and someone who knows the power of Twitter, I would have expected to see him tweeting about Bradford a lot more, even if he paid no heed to the competition. However, to both of you, thank you for selling Bradford.
The Final Table
The Scoring System
2 – RT of member of the public enjoying an event / attraction in the district or RTing Braford company or organisation, advertising it.
5 – RT with reply / comment on tweet from member of the public enjoying an event / attraction in the district.
10 – RT of account selling a Bradford & District event & attraction, such as @visitBradford, @MediaMuseum or @hiddenBradford.
15 – Tweet from an event / attraction.
50 – tweet linking to a self-penned blogpost / video about enjoying an event or attraction.
If you agree or disagree with what I’m doing, if you think it’s a good yardstick for politicians or stupid beynd belief, please leave a comment and let me know.
The penultimate day of the competition and, hyperbole aside, we have a player who’s effort, strength and sleight of retweeting hand would surpass those of Hercules, the Hulk and Harry Houdini combined, surely cementing fist spot. Stand up and take your applause Dave Green, Bradford Council Leader, for, surely, no-on can beat you now… or can they?
But before we do the round up, something I’d hoped might happen…
@bd_angry @123jg4 You have and also made me seek sites promoting Bradford who I was not following. Your work here is done – next world peace
— David Green (@dave4wibsey) November 1, 2012
I really hoped that some politicians would take on the competition as something silly, a bit of a laugh, but begin to see that Twitter and social media is a fantastic way to sell the District. For small businesses and attractions with a limited media budget, social media, he word-of-mouth in a digital age, is a fantastic way to attract visitors and customers.
Social media’s cheap to instigate and, once word begins to spread, it’s an excellent tool for growth, shown by the time and effort spent on it by companies small, large and huge, and the success of tweeting events, such as last night’s @BradfordHour (Thursdays 8-9pm).
Can I honestly say that#TweetBD has revolutionised the way politicians view and interact with Twitter? No, of course not. But, in some small way, I hope that a few of them have found a few more accounts to follow, seen how culture and business in Bradford use Twitter, and will continue to support them beyond the competition. In short…
@123jg4 @bd_angry. The proof of the pudding will be if I’m still doing it next week when @bd_angry gets a life and stops his comp
— David Green (@dave4wibsey) November 1, 2012
Round Up of Day 6
First up – WOW! Dave Green has surpassed his own stellar performance of yesterday. Not content with a mere double century a day, he broke through the 500 mark before #BradfordHour had begun then pushed on to a whopping 821, becoming the first politician to breach 1k, ending the day on a probably insurmountable 1379.
Mohammad Shabbir (216) and Ralph Berry (162) had big days, again selling the District brilliantly, and both joined in with #BradfordHour to great effect.
Special mention to David Ward who became the first MP to break a daily century with a some great RTing and talking-up of Bradford. Surely he’s cemented first place amongst the Parliamentarians (though, as I write, George Galloway’s on a RT-athon – how many Bradford tweets will make it out?). With a slow day for Simon Cooke, could David Ward break across the great divide and split City Hall?
@bd_angry I know, not had time to tweet today, in fact no time to eat lunch or tea. Just had a packet of crisps at this residents’ meeting.
— Susan Hinchcliffe (@SHinchcliffe) November 1, 2012
Poor Susan Hinchcliffe. On a day when good news was spilling out of the city and #BradfordHour kicked off with a bang, she was stalking the corridors of power and couldn’t get near the Twittersphere. As predicted yesterday, our early leader has dropped into third and Ralph Berry’s got to be eying the bronze. Still, she’s not dead in the water and sounded like there’s still plenty of fight to come. A downtrodden tweet about not even having managed to eat, never mind tweet, was followed up with a barnstormer as she tweeted about and began a long and pun-filled conversation about sausage tasting day at the Oastler Centre.
RT @visitbradford British Sausage Week Sat 3 Nov, Oastler #Bradford Shopping Centre will be offering sausage tasters. ow.ly/1Pgrf6
— Susan Hinchcliffe (@SHinchcliffe) November 1, 2012
The Table
The Scoring System
2 – RT of member of the public enjoying an event / attraction in the district or RTing Braford company or organisation, advertising it.
5 – RT with reply / comment on tweet from member of the public enjoying an event / attraction in the district.
10 – RT of account selling a Bradford & District event & attraction, such as @visitBradford, @MediaMuseum or @hiddenBradford.
15 – Tweet from an event / attraction.
50 – tweet linking to a self-penned blogpost / video about enjoying an event or attraction.
If you agree or disagree with what I’m doing, if you think it’s a good yardstick for politicians or stupid beynd belief, please leave a comment and let me know.
I never thought I’d say this but, I’m really looking forward the Christmas Lights Switch-On in Bradford on November 17th.
Suffice to say, it’s at my new favourite place, City Park, and I know they know how to put on a show.
Take a look at the photos below from the artists’ previous events, then please give my latest piece for Culture Vultures a read for more on what’s happening. It’s got details of times, events and acrobats (yes, acrobats).
Hope to see you there!
Click to go to my latest piece for Culture Vultures which has all the details about the day and will whet your appetite for what promises to be a exceptional evening’s entertainment.
#TweetBD day 5 – and things are getting exciting at the top and the bottom. There’s been a record-breaking day for one politician, a change of position in the MPs’ mini-competition, and one councilor may be about to realize that she’s in a marathon not a sprint.
But before the breakdown, why did I do #tweetBD? Put simply, Bradford doesn’t get the press it deserves and, as the national (even local) media ignores its positives, it’s up to us to show and share what’s great. Social media, and Twitter in particular, is a great way of doing this. Sharing tweets from official accounts means that a tweet that took someone in Jacob’s Well or City Hall 40 seconds to write is spread across the district as it pops up in timelines hours, even days, after it was first published. One tweet written at 9 can be seen and shared at 10, 11, 12 and so on, all day and night, as people see it for the first time and spread it around.
With MPs particularly, a RT showing what Bradford’s got has more of a national audience, and most are followed by journalists and other influential people – which is why I think it’s a shame that the local politicians are outstripping the Parliamentarians by such a long way.
Of course, the local politicians’ followers are spread far and wide, too, and Simon Cooke’s large national and global audience getting a regular dose of positive Bradford is great to see. Ralph Berry’s connections, particularly in the north, show people to our east and west that they shouldn’t just pass us by as they race to and from Leeds or Manchester, but come, stop a while and enjoy what we’ve got to offer.
In short, Bradford’s council, businesses, artists, attractions and movers & shakers are using social media to sell our city and district, shouting that we’re open for business and culture and fun – but they need the social part, too, or they’re simply shouting at the sea. Retweets and recommendations can be the first time someone hears of an event or business, and can often be the reason why someone attends. It’s cheap, it’s easy and it works – but only if we support it; and who better to lead us in our support than Bradford’s leaders?
#TweetBD Day 5
Dave Green sustains his meteoric rise and becomes the first politician to reach a double century – 243 makes him easily the daily winner and cements his place at the top. Fantastic work which will help Bradford’s businesses and cultural activities no end!
Mohammad Shabbir had another great day, and his game plan of tweeting about his best places to visit in Bradford, especially those in his own ward, has reaped rewards. He’s not a massive retweeter, preferring to give personal, heart-felt recommendations of attractions and businesses. This is brilliant because most of the stuff he’s spotlighted don’t appear on the @visitBradford twitterfeed. He’s now hot on the heels of early leader Susan Hinchcliffe and, unless she can pull something out of the bag, it looks like he’ll be in silver position by tomorrow.
Ralph Berry had a good day – 85 – meaning he’s narrowly behind Simon Cooke.
Another poor day for the MPs generally, with David Ward’s 59 being the best the Parliamentarians can crow about. He takes over top Parliamentary spot from George Galloway who, despite, having a bit of a RT-athon, missed all of @visitBradford, @CityParkBD, @hiddenBradford and other’s tweets. Too much about Croydon and Glasgow means he slips 7th.
Down at the bottom, it was another poor day for Philip Davies. Sending only two tweets, neither about Bradford District, means he remains in the wooden spoon position.
The Table
The Scoring System
2 – RT of member of the public enjoying an event / attraction in the district or RTing Braford company or organisation, advertising it.
5 – RT with reply / comment on tweet from member of the public enjoying an event / attraction in the district.
10 – RT of account selling a Bradford & District event & attraction, such as @visitBradford, @MediaMuseum or @hiddenBradford.
15 – Tweet from an event / attraction.
50 – tweet linking to a self-penned blogpost / video about enjoying an event or attraction.
If you agree or disagree with what I’m doing, if you think it’s a good yardstick for politicians or stupid beynd belief, please leave a comment and let me know.
