A Politician ruined this Article

Before I’d even got to the end of writing this piece, it was utterly ruined by a sitting Member of Parliament.  

Here I was, writing down all my clever thoughts, thinking I’d got myself another smash hit. And then, before I even got to the end of my thesis, they spoiled the cliffhanger by behaving, well, like a bloody human.  

I’ve had to refresh the whole damn article. But, do you know what? I’m grateful to them.  

There’s still valuable learning to be had.  

Also, I’d spent at least half an hour writing, and needed to salvage the use of that time somehow.  

So, here’s what really happened when the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Andrew Griffith MP, popped up on my timeline on Saturday morning.  

I followed him. Nothing particularly unusual about that, to be fair.  

But I’ve been noticing politicians popping up on my timelines a lot. Again, also nothing odd about it. It’s election season in Scotland. I happen to know quite a few politicians personally. I’m pals with them on Facebook. I went to uni with them. And school. Might even have dated a couple, not that I will be revealing who.  

But their sudden visibility on certain timelines is intriguing me. I’m barely on Facebook anymore. Or Instagram. The politicians are popping up on LinkedIn. And Substack.  

I’ve been on LinkedIn since 2003. I’m one of their early adopters. Over two decades of near daily usage and I can tell you right now, the presence of politicians feels relatively new.  

While Substack is comparatively new to me (I’ve been active on it for under a year) the presence of actual politicians also appears to be new to Substack too.  

What does this mean?  

Is this signalling a shift in political public relations strategies?  

Both platforms demand intelligent discourse to succeed, and neither rewards broadcasting alone. It’s worth asking the question: are politicians here to genuinely engage, or just looking for a quieter space in which to be heard? Time will tell.  

But, for fun, and because it was Saturday, and I was at the hairdresser, and couldn’t go anywhere, I decided to communicate directly with the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade as one of his 20 subscribers, and welcome him to the stack.  

Yes, I know. Not normal.  

Most of you would follow and listen. I fancied a chat. And because I have no boundaries, and my Mum wasn’t there to talk me out of it, I initiated contact.  

And why not? I’ve been writing here for almost a year now about how damned hard it is to run a business in the UK, and I believe I have valuable insights to offer to his opposition stance. Would he be willing to read my articles, or even engage with me? Would my voice matter?  

Probably not, I thought.  

Let’s face it, once you reach a certain level in politics, engaging with the public is generally not considered, um, useful. Or, at least, that’s how it comes across.  

Anyway, there I was, smugly writing my article about how, with just 20 subscribers, he may need to make a bit of an effort to get some proper traction on Substack. I extolled the difference between needing to engage on Substack more than you do on the traditional platforms, where you broadcast your thoughts into the void and the algorithm does all the hard work for you.  

I had all sorts of clever insights prepped for how approaches to communication have shifted rapidly, but that the one thing I hear over and over again on Substack is that people write, publish and feel listened to. It’s a real community. With real humans. Interacting.  

I waxed lyrical about how publishing on Substack is more akin to a live performance, not a broadcast engagement. An event, not a scheduled programme.  

Then, there it was. He responded to my message.  

In person.  

And then followed me back. 👀  

So, my article was completely screwed.  

My faith in politics and democracy, however, got a bit of a boost. Thanks Andrew.  

And this article is all the better (I hope) for me being proven wrong. Maybe politicians are here to engage, and listen. Wouldn’t that be refreshing? 

Importantly, my faith in Substack, as an altogether more community based platform, remains firmly intact. 

There’s more where this came from. I share more of my thinking on Cunningly Good Marketer on Substack. Subscribe to get my opinions, experience and real-world lessons straight to your inbox.