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WebCameron (a portmanteau of
webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...
and
Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 197 ...
) was a series of online videos recorded by the British
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
leader
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
between 2006 and 2010, while the Conservatives were the party of
opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...
, and Cameron was
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. Named after Cameron, the series was launched with much publicity in September 2006, when the party was keen to rebrand itself as a modern entity by embracing new technology, and appealing to a younger generation of voters adept at using online media.


History

David Cameron was elected to lead the Conservative Party in December 2005 on a platform of making the party appeal to a wider electorate, and to those who had not previously voted for them. His director of strategy,
Steve Hilton Stephen Glenn Charles Hilton (born 25 August 1969) is a British political commentator and former political adviser. He served as director of strategy for the British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2012. Since 2017, Hilton has hosted ...
realised the potential of using websites such as the recently launched video-sharing website
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
to by-pass traditional media, such as television broadcasters, and attract new voters. Political parties in the UK, including the Conservatives, had established websites before the 1997 general election, but had not embraced the technology as a campaigning tool. Consequently, after 2005, the party hired Rishi Saha, a former nightclub manager, to bolster its online presence, and WebCameron was established as part of its digital strategy. The WebCameron videos were made available on the website www.webcameron.org.uk, as well as via YouTube. There was also an online discussion forum facility. At the time of WebCameron's launch, the Conservatives described the series as providing "behind-the-scenes access" to Cameron, while Sam Roake, who helped to run the site, said the videos "very much epresentthe values of David Cameron's Conservative party, of openness and community". The first video uploaded to the WebCameron site, on 30 September 2006, showed Cameron washing up in his kitchen while his family ate breakfast, and featured him setting out his party's aims: "I want to tell you what the Conservative party is doing, what we're up to, give you behind-the-scenes access so you can actually see what policies we're developing, the things that we are doing, and have that direct link ... watch out BBC, ITV, Channel 4, we're the new competition. We're a bit shaky and wobbly, but this is one of the ways we want to communicate with people properly about what the Conservative party stands for." Subsequent videos featured Cameron in different settings, while offering his thoughts on a variety of topics, and generally appeared at the rate of one or two a week. Among videos recorded for the series was footage of Cameron celebrating
Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...
at
Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 ( Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh Har ...
's Swaminarayan Temple, a discussion of British achievements at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, and Cameron offering his thoughts on how to clean up British politics. In a video posted in January 2007, Cameron called for the legalisation of
medical marijuana Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
. In May 2007, after he was the guest of a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
family living in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
's
Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of B ...
district, Cameron posted highlights of the visit to WebCameron. The video showed him living and working with the family, and discussing topical issues with the local community. Shortly after that, Cameron spent two days as a
teaching assistant A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate school ...
at
Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...
, a
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
in
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...
, footage of which was also uploaded to the site. Also in 2007, Cameron used the website to challenge
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
to a live televised political debate as he prepared to succeed
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
as
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, arguing the format had proved useful for discussing "serious policy issues" during the 2005 Conservative leadership election. Cameron's wife,
Samantha Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain. Specu ...
made her WebCameron debut in April 2010, ahead of that year's
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. The WebCameron YouTube channel was renamed Sam WebCameron for the duration of the weeks preceding the election, and was part of the Conservatives' campaign to attract young female voters. In 2007, the Conservatives apologised after a forum discussing the "sexiest female MP" attracted some negative media attention, and the thread was removed. In ''Cameron’s Conservatives and the Internet: Change, Culture and Cyber Toryism'', Anthony Ridge-Newman reports that daily visitor traffic for WebCameron stood at 150,000 in the initial phase of the project, before falling to 5,000–6,000 during its latter years. By 2010, the WebCameron series had been moved from the webcameron.org.uk site to the main Conservative Party website. A ''Good Web Guide'' review described the series as " fferinglittle more than another platform for the broadcast of policy, rather than a two-way dialogue between the elected and the electors". After the Conservatives formed a government following the 2010 general election and Cameron became
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
,
10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...
announced that he would continue to record the WebCameron videos. In November 2010, Nicky Woodhouse, who was in charge of running the WebCameron site, was appointed as the government's official film-maker, but stepped down from the role after two weeks when the appointment was perceived negatively by the media and public. The WebCameron series attracted some renewed media interest when it was deleted from YouTube in November 2013, particularly as it coincided with the removal of a decade of Cameron's speeches from the Conservative Party's website. However, the material remains available through the
UK Web Archive The UK Web Archive is a consortium of the six UK legal deposit libraries which aims to collect all UK websites at least once each year. History In 2005, the British Library, The National Archives, Wellcome Trust, National Library of Scotland, ...
.


Legacy

In 2007, Labour launched Labourvision, a series of videos inspired by the WebCameron model. The videos had their own YouTube channel, and featured prominent Labour figures discussing policy issues. In 2008, Labour leader and Prime Minister
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
launched Ask the PM, a YouTube channel on which he would answer questions put to him by subscribers. Brown's public image had been an issue with voters during his time as Prime Minister, and Ask the PM was an attempt to revitalise his image. Conservative MP
Douglas Carswell John Douglas Wilson Carswell (born 3 May 1971) is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017, co-founded Vote Leave and currently serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. ...
launched clactontv.com, a website following a similar video-sharing format in November 2006. WebCameron was also the subject of satire, with some sending up Cameron's attempt to connect with a younger generation. One notable example of this occurred in October 2006, when MP
Siôn Simon Siôn Llewelyn Simon (born 23 December 1968) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2001 to 2010 and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands fro ...
recorded a video titled "DaveCam" in which he mocked Cameron's presenting style while wearing a
baseball cap A baseball cap is a type of soft hat with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front. The front of the hat typically displays a design or a logo (historically, usually only a sports team, namely a baseball team, or names of relevant co ...
, inviting viewers to sleep with his wife and take his children. ''
The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...
'' reported that the video resulted in an increase in traffic to the WebCameron site. Simon deleted the clip following criticism about its content from Conservative and Labour MPs. Another spoof of the videos was made by supporters of the
UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
who established a website with a similar address to the WebCameron URL, and redirected visitors to a spoof
Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...
video set to
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's song, "
Changes Changes may refer to: Books * ''Changes'', the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a novel by Danielle Steel * ''Changes'', a trilogy of novels on which the BBC TV series was based, written by Peter Dickinson ...
" and that had appeared on his television show ''
Time Trumpet ''Time Trumpet'' is a six-episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in August 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one-off programmes, '' 20 ...
''.


See also

*
ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, the Conservative Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about bot ...
*
LabourList LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...


References

{{David Cameron 2006 establishments in the United Kingdom 2013 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 2006 in British politics History of the Conservative Party (UK) David Cameron British political websites YouTube channels