A survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) reviewed how Britains MP's were being portrayed by their various websites and branded many of them as inept, flaccid and bland.
They stated that these pages poorly represent MP's and do not fully inform constituents about what their elected representative was doing or thinking. They feel that they are wasting a real opportunity of engaging with their constituents to ensure that they are dealing with appropriate issues both locally and nationally in order to bring them closer with government.
The survey looked at various sites for quality, presentation and content; how easy the site was for navigation and how details of the MP was presented. Many made fundamental errors such as telling their website visitors to contact them by letter rather than using e-mail, bad styling, spelling and bad navigation errors.
Using the excuse that it is not possible to portray the characteristics of an MP is not acceptable as there are websites that are successful such as those of Paul Flynn, Ann Widdecombe and Austin Mitchell who have received praise for their content reflecting the character of the MP and also giving constituents a clearer understanding of their politics.