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Greens embrace Obama-style online campaigning...

... and step up bid for an MEP in the East of England with one month to go to elections

With just one month to go to both the Local and European Elections on 4th June, the Green Party has embraced an Obama-style use of online social-media to connect with a wider audience.

Cllr Rupert Read, the Green Party’s lead candidate to become an MEP in the Eastern Region, is drawing support from people across the East of England through his personal blog and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, engaging with more people than ever before. See 
www.rupertread.net

Read is a regular user of Twitter, opening one-on-one conversations with a variety of users and answering their questions. One follower ‘twittered’: “Twitter is going to be the key in the County Council elections.”

Cllr Read’s blogs are becoming well known and have attracted a growing following. He has been a committed blogger since 2007, and regularly updates his personal blog enabling people to follow him throughout his campaign, which has included extensive "listening tours" across the East of England.

Like the Presidential campaign in the US last year, Rupert Read’s campaign is utilising ‘viral’ marketing techniques to spread the Green message. The campaign’s online advertising has already received just over 3 million views over the past few months and it is hoped that this will carry a wave of support for the Green Party into election day on June 4th. 

The use of social networking sites to organise the political campaign has encouraged increasing involvement from young activists, giving a fresh edge to the Green Party’s ambitious campaign. 

Cllr Read said

“It really is exciting to be campaigning at a time when the use of online networking is still developing and growing. While I am going door-to-door and listening to local people, I can be ‘twittering’ about my thoughts on the issues they are facing – and people from across the whole Region can be included in the debate.”

Rupert Read has taken unpaid sabbatical from lecturing in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia and has been campaigning full-time for the past year. 

For more information or to arrange an interview or meeting with Rupert Read, please contact him on the road on 07946 459066

Eastern Region Green Party Press Office 01376 584576   Mobile 07951 923073

Matt Wootton: Tel: + 44 (0) 7866 704 601 email: 
matt.wootton 'at' greenparty.org.uk

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