#PartyConference

Politics and Twitter go hand in hand, so as the 2013 party conference season comes to a close, we look back at how the major UK political parties have been using the platform this autumn.

With 71% of UK MPs on Twitter, up from 56% in 2012, and more than 1.1 million mentions of the conferences on Twitter, it was the platform of choice for MPs, commentators and delegates alike. They used Twitter to discuss the conferences in the host cities of Glasgow, Brighton and Manchester, as well as from other parts of the UK and beyond.

Total mentions
There were more than 1.1 million mentions of the party conferences on Twitter, with the Conservative Party conference generating the most buzz:

• Liberal Democrats (@LibDems): 14-18 September 2013, Glasgow - 192,000 Tweets
• Labour (@UKLabour): 22-25 September 2013, Brighton - 315,000 Tweets
• Conservatives (@Conservatives): 29 September-2 October 2013, Manchester - 623,000 Tweets

These figures include mentions of the party, leader, key speakers and hashtags relevant to the specific conference periods.

Leaders
And when it comes to which of the party leaders was the most talked about, it was Cameron who came out on top. Here’s how the three leaders fared in terms of mentions on Twitter during their own party conferences:

• David Cameron (@David_Cameron) - 175,000 Tweets
• Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) - 67,000 Tweets
• Nick Clegg (@Nick_Clegg) - 63,000 Tweets

Leaders’ speeches
The focal point of party conferences tends to be the leaders’ speeches - and this year was no exception. As the three leaders took to the stage to set out their vision for the coming year, we looked at which speech generated the most conversation on Twitter:

• David Cameron’s Speech - 23,000 Tweets
• Ed Miliband’s Speech - 20,200 Tweets
• Nick Clegg’s Speech - 9,300 Tweets

All three major political parties have a presence on Twitter, and during the leaders’ speeches, they each took to the platform to bring the speeches to life for followers in the conference hall and beyond. They used Twitter to highlight key policies and soundbites, 140 characters at a time.

Here is a selection:

Twitter provides a fascinating social soundtrack to the world of politics. With all the UK’s major political leaders and parties using the platform in creative and interesting ways, it’s a great way to follow the action.