Edinburgh Napier University

  In providing an overview of British political parties on the threshold of the 'information age', this chapter argues that any thorough analysis is incomplete without addressing their use of new information and communications technologies (ICTs). The manner in which a party utilizes ICTs and the capabilities which they offer tells us a great deal about the state of parties themselves, and about the contemporary practice of democracy in Britain. Political parties' uptake of new technologies is of particular interest because, although parties continue to be important components of the polity, their continued domination of the ground between government and citizenry has been the subject of some speculation.