Labourhome

Labourhome was a popular political blog specializing in British politics started by Alex Hilton and Jag Singh. Launched in 2006 the site targeted supporters of the British Labour Party.[1] The blog became inactive in 2012.

Labourhome logo in 2006

In 2009 the site became embroiled in a libel legal case about who is liable for libellous contributions.[2] This finally came to an end in the Court of Appeal in March 2011 with the libel case being struck out as not worth pursuing when considering the minimal actual damage against the costs of the litigation.[3][4][5]

History
Labourhome logo in 2007

Labourhome was launched in 2006 with the tagline "Back to the roots", targeting supporters of the British Labour Party.[1]

The site was re-launched on 10 May 2007, the day British Prime Minister Tony Blair resigned as Leader of the Labour Party.[6] Labourhome was not a standard forum-based website, but rather a collaborative blog, which allowed registered members to contribute articles to the site.

The site garnered attention early in its history, when Labour Party Chair and Minister without Portfolio Hazel Blears posted an entry [7] on the site. In 2008 former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott started writing on the site.[8]

In July 2008 New Statesman publisher Mike Danson bought out one of the co-founders.[9]

In September 2008 a Labourhome user survey was used as the basis of a The Independent front page article claiming that Labour activists wanted Prime Minister Gordon Brown to stand down,[10][11] leading to some criticism of Labourhome from within the Labour Party.

In May 2009 the website switched from using bespoke blogging software to WordPress, with a significant change in appearance.[12] The site was further revamped in March 2010 in preparation for the general election, and updated to use the Hashcash anti-spam plugin.[13]

The site became inactive for a while after the 2010 general election, resuming activity in August 2011.[14] Labourhome again became inactive in April 2012.[15]

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References
  1. Alex Hilton (20 June 2006). "Welcome to Labourhome". Labourhome. Archived from the original on 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  2. "High Court: Moderate user comments and you're liable". The Register. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  3. "Four year legal battle ends for Labour Home bloggers". Index on Censorship. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  4. David Allen Green (2 March 2011). "Libel litigation is not fit for purpose". New Statesman. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  5. James Tumbridge (Barrister) (3 August 2010). "Labourhome's libel victory – the full judgement". Ellee Seymour. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  6. Jag Singh (10 May 2007). "10 years later". Labourhome. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  7. Fighting back-Hazel Blears
  8. John Prescott's blog
  9. Jemima Kiss (July 24, 2008). "New Statesman co-owner buys LabourHome blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  10. Andrew Grice (19 September 2008). "Exclusive: Now the grassroots turn against Brown". The Independent. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  11. John F. Burns (20 September 2008). "British Prime Minister's Grip on Job Is Weakened". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  12. Alex Hilton (21 May 2008). "New Labourhome: A work in progress". Labourhome. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  13. Alex Hilton (23 March 2010). "Using the new Labourhome". Labourhome. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  14. Alex Hilton (16 August 2011). "Labourhome rebooted". Labourhome. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  15. Alex Hilton (12 April 2012). "Cheerio then..." Labourhome. Archived from the original on 2012-06-20. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
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