Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for nine years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
Iain Dale has compiled a list of 500 top bloggers and you can see the top 300 (together with links) here on Iain's site.
Everyone will have their own favourite quibble, but it seems the list was compiled by voting amongst political bloggers themselves, so it is no good giving Iain a kicking (this time). In fact, although I am sure he will hope to make a few quid out of it, this book must be bloody hard work and I think that it does a terrific service to political bloggers in this country and provides an incentive for all of us to improve. Yes, we will all have our moans and groans about different blogs in different places in the table... but that is the nature of these things and I don't think people should take it too seriously whether you are proud of your place, nor annoyed about it either.
However... if we could all be allowed one moan each, mine would be that the quite excellent skipper is hopelessly misplaced at no. 105. It is a blog which doesn't get involved in the backbiting and sniping that attracts so much attention amongst bloggers, but for sheer quality and consistently sharp and provocative analysis it is, for me, an essential daily read.
Bob, thanks for your kind comments. Yes, it was hard work but also really enjoyable. Part of the reason I like doing it is because there are so many fantastic blogs out there which don't get their fair share of the limelight - on the left as well as the right. Initiatives like this actually promote the whole cause of blogging, so whatever anyone thinks of me or my politics I hope they think this book is a good thing.
Will I make money out of it? Well, I doubt whether it will make the Amazon top 100, let's put it that way!
September 28, 2007 10:56 PM | permalink
Well done Bob, you are at 25. Not bad for a lad from Bearwood. Non alcoholic drinks all round at the Abbey on Tuesday?