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Top UK political blogs

Top UK political blogger and media pundit Iain Dale has published a list of the top 100 political weblogs in the UK (.pdf)

Spy Blog does not appear on this list, but it does achieve 63rd place in his "Non-Aligned" blogs list.

Since Iain's personal criteria for scoring blogs included "humour" and "writing ability", we are astonished that we rated a mention at all !

However Iain's listings do not give a complete picture, as there are some notable omissions from his lists.

We tend to look at the number of Bloglines syndication feed aggregator website subscriptions to our RSS / XML syndication feeds, to get an idea of how we compare with some of the other UK blogs.

Obviously, counting the subscriptions to a blog syndication feed aggregator like Bloglines, only tells you so much, but it is probably a fair indication of the popularity of a particular blog is with keen bloggers and information junkies, who tend to spread information rapidly within the "blogosphere".

Applying the Bloglines test to Iain's top 100 UK political blogs list has some interesting results:

Iain Dale's Top UK political blogs by Bloglines subscription, 16th September 2006

N.B. if the table below does not display properly due to your screen resolution / default font sizes, this link will open a new window with just the table.

Ranked by number of Bloglines SubscriptionsIain Dale's rankingIain Dale's political categoryName of UK Political BlogBlog URLNumber of Bloglines Subscribers
11N-AGuido Fawkes http://5thnovember.blogspot.com 398
224LabHarry’s Place http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net254
363N-ANick Robinson http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson245
498N-APoliceman’s Blog http://coppersblog.blogspot.com191
53ConIain Dale http://iaindale.blogspot.com 158
69N-ANHS Blog Doctor http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com150
748LabNormblog http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog 150
822N-ATim Worstall http://timworstall.typepad.com/timworstall 149
941N-AEU Referendum http://eureferendum.blogspot.com 130
1070N-AOliver Kamm http://oliverkamm.typepad.com/blog97
1111ConBoris Johnson http://www.boris-johnson.com88
1214N-ABloggerheads http://www.bloggerheads.com 81
1326N-ABlairwatch http://www.blairwatch.co.uk76
1460N-APerfect.co.uk http://www.perfect.co.uk73
1525N-ARachel from North London http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.com 66
1673N-AEURSOC http://www.eursoc.com63
1759LDPickled Politics http://www.pickledpolitics.com59
1836LabTom Watson MP http://www.tom-watson.co.uk49
197ConBurning our Money http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com44
2057N-ADevil’s Kitchen http://devilskitchen.blogspot.com41
2183N-ABiased BBC http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com36
2221N-AStephen Pollard http://www.stephenpollard.net35
232ConConservative Home http://www.conservativehome.com 35
2419N-AChicken Yoghurt http://www.chickyog.net 34
2564N-ABacking Blair http://www.backingblair.co.uk/weblog.html34
2620N-AAdam Smith Institite http://www.adamsmith.org/blog 30
276N-APolitical Betting http://www.politicalbetting.com30
2840ConWelfare State We’re In http://thewelfarestatewerein.com30
2951ConSocial Affairs Unit http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog28
3081N-AAn Englishman’s Castle http://www.anenglishmanscastle.com27
3110N-APaul Linford http://paullinford.blogspot.com 26
3285LabBloggers 4 Labour http://www.bloggers4labour.org/index.jsp26
3390N-ABlognor Regis http://blognorregis.blogspot.com25
3413N-ABeau Bo D’Or http://www.bbdo.co.uk/blog/index.php 25
3517LabBob Piper http://www.councillorbobpiper.blogspot.com 23
3630LDLiberal England http://liberalengland.blogspot.com 20
3746LDLibDem Blogs http://www.libdemblogs.co.uk 20
3872N-AUK Polling Report http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/index.php18
3952N-ACampaign for an English Parliament http://thecep.org.uk/news18
4012N-AAdam Boulton http://adamboulton.typepad.com 17
415LabKerron Cross http://kerroncross.blogspot.com17
4299LabAustin Mitchell MP http://www.austinmitchell.org17
4337LabDave’s Part http://davespartblog.blogspot.com17
4466N-ADaniel Finkelstein http://www.timesonline.typepad.com/comment16
4595ConNatalie Solent http://nataliesolent.blogspot.com15
4623ConClive Davis http://www.clivedavis-online.com 15
4767LDNo Geek Is An Island http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog13
4832ConCranmer http://www.archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com13
4928LabAntonia Bance http://www.antoniabance.org.uk12
5034N-ARevolts http://www.revolts.co.uk12
5187LabGeneral Theory of Rubbish http://www.gentheoryrubbish.com11
5292ConDodgeblogium http://www.andrewiandodge.com11
5327LabLabour Home http://www.labourhome.org10
5475LDApollo http://www.liberalreview.com/blogs/apollo9
5539LDPeter Black http://peterblack.blogspot.com 9
5615LDLiberal Review http://www.liberalreview.com 9
5738ConEllee Seymour http://elleeseymour.com9
5858N-AOpinionated Voice http://opinionated.blogsome.com8
5977LDQuaequam http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog8
6018N-ASlugger O’Toole http://www.sluggerotoole.com 8
6133LabJo Salmon http://www.josalmon.co.uk8
6231ConJames Cleverly http://jamescleverly.blogspot.com7
6361LDRob Fenwick http://www.northumbrian.org.uk/7
6494LDStephen Tall http://oxfordliberal.blogspot.com7
6568N-ASkipper http://skipper59.blogspot.com7
664LDLiberal Democrat Voice http://www.libdemvoice.org 7
6735N-ADave Hill http://davehill.typepad.com/temperama6
688LDNiles’s Blog http://www.alexfoster.me.uk 6
6980ConConservative History http://conservativehistory.blogspot.com6
7086LabThe Daily http://thedaily.wordpress.com6
7142LabMars Hill http://paulburgin.blogspot.com 6
7297ConAntony Little http://antonylittle.blogspot.com5
7371N-AFisking Central http://fiskingcentral.typepad.com4
7493N-AShaphan http://shaphan.typepad.com/blog4
7544LabJon Worth Euroblog http://blog.jonworth.eu 4
7654LDAlex Wilcock http://loveandliberty.blogspot.com4
7755LabTygerland http://tygerland.net3
7878LDSuz Blog http://susannelamido.blogspot.com3
7969N-AS J Howard http://sjhoward.co.uk3
8074ConCroydonian http://croydonian.blogspot.com3
8153LDJock Coats http://jockcoats.blogspot.com3
8296ConSpin Blog http://www.martincurtis.net/blog/blogger.html3
8316ConDizzy Thinks http://dizzythinks.blogspot.com 3
8443N-APaul Leake http://paulleake.org.uk 3
8579N-AUKIP Home http://www.ukiphome.com2
86100ConBel is Thinking http://declaim.blogspot.com2
8750LabMike Ion http://www.mike-ion.blogspot.com 2
8889ConKevin Davis http://kevindavis.wordpress.com2
8984N-AYellow Peril http://www.fourthterm.net/plog1
9065N-AThe Darbyshires http://thedarbyshires.blogspot.com1
9191ConTrevor Ivory http://trevor-ivory.blogspot.com1
9247LabKris Brown http://cllrkrisbrown.blogspot.com 1
9349N-AThe Spine http://www.the-spine.com 1
9429N-ABrian Micklethwait http://www.brianmicklethwait.com/index.php1
9588LabDouble Negative http://roberthenryjackman.blogspot.com0
9676LDEric Avebury http://ericavebury.blogspot.com0
9756ConWest Brom Blog http://westbromblog.blog.com0
9845ConTory Radio http://www.toryradio.com 0
9982LabToryWatch http://www.torywatch.com0
10062LabFourth Term http://www.fourthterm.net/postnuke/html0

N-A = Non-Aligned, Con = Conservative, Lab = Labour, LD = Liberal Democrat

Spy Blog, currently has 87 Bloglines subscribers on its most popular syndication feed, which suggests that it should be ranked in the top 20 of UK political blogs.

The "Libertarian" Samizdata, with 450 Bloglines subscribers, which is not mentioned in Iain Dale's lists, would probably top the listing.

Also missing is the "Left wing" Lenin's Tomb has 188 Bloglines subscribers, which would also suggest that it should be in the top 10 of UK political blogs.

Perhaps some of the blogs like Nick Robinson's blog, and Harry's Place or the Policeman's Blog deserve a higher ranking which the Bloglines test would give them, compared with Iain's listing.

Similarly some highly ranked blogs appear to have few if any Bloglines subscribers to their syndicated feeds. In some cases this is because the feeds are hard to find on the website, but for standard *.blogspot.com blogs, that can only be because few, if any people either know about the blog or wish to subscribe to its feeds.

To put all this in perspective, the number of Bloglines subscribers who subscribe to various online media feeds is:

Wired News73845
BoingBoing51367
Reuters top news stories32531
The Guardian Unlimited16269
The Register2890

Cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, who popularised the idea of "cyberspace" has a blog which attracts 2455 Bloglines subscribers.

Despite or perhaps because of, some omissions, and some miscategorisations of political allegiances, Iain Dale's lists are stimulating discussion in the UK "blogosphere" and his distribution of his Guide to Political Blogging to the main Party Conferences might help to get more people interested in political blogging in the UK.

Posted by on September 18, 2006 5:09 PM |

Comments

Yes, there were a few strange ones, Samizdata's absence being one I picked up on pretty quickly.

And Brian Micklethwait too. I like the blog, but it's not really about politics at all these days.

Of course my appearing at all (at 94 in the non-aligned category) was kind of
strange.

Posted by: Bishop Hill | September 18, 2006 10:24 PM

One of the more fascinating posts I have read on the top 100 lists. I didn't know you could do a Bloglines ranking. It would certainly have been helpful to me. I always knew I would miss some out. None were deliberately excluded. But if it has achieved something it has certainly helped get the UK blogosphere talked about!

Posted by: Iain Dale | September 19, 2006 12:01 AM

Well, as it happens, Alexa tells me the following:

I beat Oliver Kamm:
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Foliverkamm.typepad.com&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

I beat The Full Boris:
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boris-johnson.com&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

I beat Iain Dale:
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fiaindale.blogspot.com+&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

The NHS doctor can fuck right off:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

Perfect dot whatchamacallit will have to glue its teeth in:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfect.co.uk&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

I even beat Norman Geras and Harry's Place in recent days:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fnormblog.typepad.com%2Fnormblog&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fhurryupharry.bloghouse.net&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

I've long since seen off the copper:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fcoppersblog.blogspot.com&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

I have also fought a fair fight with Blairwatch and Bloggerheads:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blairwatch.co.uk&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloggerheads.com&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

Tim Worstall isn't as hard as he thinks he is:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?compare_sites=http%3A%2F%2Ftimworstall.typepad.com%2Ftimworstall&range=6m&size=medium&y=r&url=leninology.blogspot.com

I mean, on the whole, I must be somewhere in the top ten, which isn't bad for a
hedonistic Trotskyist with a penchant for ostentatious intellectualism and
toilet humour.

Posted by: lenin | September 19, 2006 12:23 AM

Good to see Pickled Politics jump up the rankings although being called a LibDem
blog has caused some amusment.:)

Posted by: leon | September 19, 2006 10:54 AM

It works for me.

Samizdata is where I used to write...

Posted by: Guido Fawkes | September 19, 2006 5:15 PM

Thanks for the info here.

A heads up that I am attempting some more rigorous analysis using Google/Technorati data as part of a series on political blogging at mattwardman.com.

Rgds

Matt

Posted by: Matt Wardman | March 22, 2007 10:23 AM

@ Matt - it will be interesting to compare your analysis with that of the Edelman public relations professionals who are also using Technorati for such analyses:

http://www.prblogger.com/2006/10/uk100-bloggers/

Posted by: wtwu | March 22, 2007 11:08 AM

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