A look at the online Deputy Leadership election

Let's take a closer look at the two campaigns for Green Party Deputy Leader. Specifically I thought I'd take a peek at the on-line campaigns. The obvious place to start are the websites for Adrian (who is running on a joint ticket with Caroline Lucas) and Derek.

Adrian and Caroline's site is comprehensive to say the least with candidate statements and biographies including their extensive electoral experience, recent videos, an explanation of how the election works for new members, Caroline's work and Adrian's campaigning as well as an FAQ.

The site is clean and well laid out and, apart from the landing page, is very similar in design to the Green Party national site.

Adrian outlines his political priorities as public services, green economy, reforming politics, and protecting animals. There's a particularly strong element on his site called supporting local parties which outlines concrete party organising and building local campaigns. For me these kinds of specifics will decide my vote.

When it comes to Adrian's endorsements we have respected party members Peter Cranie, Jean Lambert, Peter Tatchell, Patrick Harvie, Darren Johnson, as well as a host of cllrs and moderately well known party activists. The 32 endorsements don't include every senior elected Party member, but it's pretty close.

Derek has less on his site, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and his opening statement is succinct and clear. However the formatting is all over the place and the design far more clunky with misaligned photos, a grey colour scheme and sloppy use of paragraphing which could be sorted out in literally two minutes rendering the endorsements in particular far more accessible.

The site includes videos from his time as principal speaker and an old video with Frost debating a climate denier which are interesting but do feel quite dated. He also includes links to his writings in the Morning Star, the Australian Green Left Weekly and his academic work.

Derek lays out the themes of his campaign by talking about going 'beyond the crisis', that he's a natural communicator, a global green and has thirty years of experience. There is no specific section on what Derek would actually do as Deputy Leader, although having said that some of the endorsement texts are very interesting and well worth a read.

Derek has 21 endorsements most significantly from Comedian Mark Steel and union activist Jerry Hicks. The rest of nominations are all, I think, from Green Left members like the stupendous Jonathan Buckner and serious party stalwarts such as Joseph Healey. Derek only has two elected Greens in his endorsements (two councillors) which, combined with the politically narrow support, does look like a weakness to be honest.

Moving on to the Facebook fan pages we see that Adrian currently has 139 fans for the election and Derek just pips him at the post with 143.

The first thing that grabbed me was that Derek's photo has him relaxed in an informal pose with open shirt and the info page focuses on policy. Adrian's page has him in a far more formal pose complete with tie, and photoshopped in with Caroline, which seems a little unnecessary as there are plenty of pictures of the two of them together.

Adrian has pledges on what he'd do as deputy, and casting an unscientific eye over the members of the group it looks like Adrian has broader support in the party and Derek a clearer left constituency with more non-party members as fans. However, Adrian's wall is more interactive with lots of messages of support while Derek's is mainly messages from the campaign to supporters.

Checking out their non-campaign feeds I notice Adrian has basically a press release style page with a slower cycle of pieces than Derek's blog which has quite a frenetic rate of posting. Looking at the last ten things the candidates have posted on (at the time of writing) I see that Derek has four pieces on Latin America, two pieces from the Morning Star, two pieces on the Australian election and two on the cuts/campaigning for Caroline Lucas. Certainly very internationalist!

Adrian on the other hand has articles on factory farming, VAT, schools, Tesco, open democracy, the first Green Lord Mayor (in Norwich), the ConDem coalition, the Lib Dems and where we stand after the election. As I say this is two months worth of content compared to Derek's week's worth due to the rate of posting but I think the different focus is still instructive with Adrian taking up far more mainstream issues that are closer to home and Derek focusing on more international or ideological subjects.

On twitter both Adrian and Derek are having conversations with supporters, although it doesn't look to me that the candidates are prioritising this part of their online campaigns.

Green bloggers seem to be split roughly fifty fifty each way. The articles I've seen supporting either candidate come out at four a piece, although I may well have missed some (feel free to forward any I've not seen). I think both sides have articulated their positions very well on the blogs and, if you've not yet made up your mind, these posts are a good place to go to to draw out the differences between the candidates.

Adrian: Nishma Doshi, Jason Kitkat, Adam Ramsay (no relation), Peter Cranie
Derek: Joseph Healey, Jane Watkinson, Adam Pogonowski, Red Green Nick

For me both Adrian and Derek are left candidates, but they have very different approaches to politics. Derek often highlights the fact that he is a self-defined 'eco-socialist' and name drops the thinkers he approves of while Adrian almost always focuses on content and has a more task orientated approach to politics.

When I eventually decide how to vote I'll be looking at their politics, their personal capabilities and focus as well as their ability to put out a decent campaign - which has quite a lot of bearing on how effective they will be if elected to the role.

If Green Party members want to submit a question to the online leadership hustings send an email to ero@greenparty.org.uk with the subject header 'hustings question'. Put your name and local party in the email and if your question is for a specific position (either leader or deputy) remember to specify that. You need to do this today to meet the deadline!