David Cameron Joins Twitter

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has joined Twitter, making him the 370th UK MP on the platform.

You can follow him at @David_Cameron. He sent his first Tweet last night (Saturday October 6):

Cameron joins the ranks of other world leaders on Twitter, including US President Barack Obama (@BarackObama), Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías (@chavezcandanga), and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan (@QueenRania).

In fact, around 70% of the world’s governments have a presence on Twitter of at least one MP and a government department.

The top 10 world leaders on Twitter (by follower number) are:

1. Barack Obama, @BarackObama. USA
2. Hugo Chávez Frías, @chavezcandanga, Venezuela
3. Rania Al Abdullah, @QueenRania, Jordan
4. Abdullah Gül, @cbabdullahgul, Turkey
5. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, @RT_Erdogan, Turkey
6. Дмитрий Медведев, @MedvedevRussia, Russia
7. Juan Manuel Santos, @JuanManSantos, Colombia  
8. HH Sheikh Mohammed, @HHShkMohd, Dubai, UAE
9. Noynoy Aquino, @noynoyaquino, Philippines
10. Mohd Najib Tun Razak, @NajibRazak, Malaysia

A full list of World Leaders on Twitter can be found here.

Before Mr Cameron signed up yesterday, the top ten UK MPs on Twitter (by follower number) were:

1. Ed Miliband, @Ed_Miliband (Labour)
2. William Hague, @WilliamJHague (Conservative)
3. David Miliband, @DMiliband(Labour)
4. Tom Watson, @tom_watson (Labour)
5. George Galloway, @georgegalloway (Respect)
6. Nick Clegg, @nick_clegg (Lib Dem)
7. Ed Balls, @edballsmp (Labour)
8. Grant Shapps, @grantshapps (Conservative)
9. Caroline Lucas, @CarolineLucas(Green)
10. Diane Abbott, @HackneyAbbott (Labour)

A full list of UK MPs on Twitter can be found here.

David Cameron’s personal account will sit alongside the existing account for the office of the Prime Minister @Number10Gov, which Cameron has previously used to make announcements, such as this message of congratulations he sent to the Ryder Cup team earlier this week: