A Representative of the People

Diana woke, showered and dressed. Then she put on her Eye. 

The Eye was a clever piece of technology from Silicon Valley. It was a HD camera, with audio microphone, 20 hour battery life, and network enabled for constant video streaming. All housed in a small package that looked like an ovoid pendant attached to a silver necklace.

She picked up her phone and tapped the Eye app and pressed the big green “Go Live” button. Hundreds of people who had been waiting in the digital lobby, streamed into the chat. She posted a link to her Eye feed, as she had done everyday for months, but added an extra line of text. ‘Today’s the day! Lets’ see what happens…’

Her supporters were posting in support: ‘You go girl!’ ‘Looking good, knock ‘em dead’. Her detractors wished her a gruesome death. Analysis had shown that many of the negative comments were the products of troll farms. One, she was advised, had links to a political rival. She could never go public with this as they were extremely litigious.

Diana, left her central London apartment and hailed a taxi from the busy street outside. “Westminster please” she asked. The cabby did a double take in the mirror. “Right!” He replied.

“You’re that MP aren’t you? My wife likes you.” said the cabby at the next set of lights. 

“Does she?” Diana replied. 

“I can see what you’re trying to do.” continued the cabby, pleased with the pun.

“That’s the plan. I think it’s working.” She offered hopefully.

Diana checked her emails. Hundreds from constituents, dozens from the office. The latest was a link to a magazine article which was about to be published. It was in a liberal centre-right publication that represented the establishment. The interviewer, Diana recalled, seemed more interested in her clothes and holiday plans. The article loaded, starting with the piece's title. ‘The Transparent Politician’. A subtle dig.

Diana returned to her inbox. Replying to some constituents with some quick wins. Forwarding others to her office, with the usual. ‘Pick this up and invite them in.’ or ‘This family needs help, please prioritise.’

Diana had started unconsciously touching the Eye. The haptic technology responded and she pulled her hand away.

Diana had decided to stream her work life a little over four months ago. She had been reading around transparency, technology and accountability, then she read The Circle by Dave Eggers, which actually reads as a warning on Big Tech, but still proved to be a useful primer on the present day.

When she was shadow minister for Culture and Media, Diana had visited Silicon Valley and was given a demonstration of the Eye by one of the Big Tech firms. She remained in contact with a key figure at the company and reached out to them the day she decided to "go transparent" as they pithily phrased it.

She wasn't the first politician in the world to wear the Eye. Marginal figures in the US had gone before her, but Diana became the first governing politician in the western world to stream her daily working life.

Diana had met with her party's whip and explained her decision to begin wearing the Eye. The chief whip had burst out laughing, only for the smiles to turn to teeth when they realised that she was serious. He threatened that she would have the whip removed if she wore it and live streamed her working life.

The next day Diana took the biggest risk of her political life. She put on the Eye and started her first live stream - posting the link on her socials. Then she went to her constituency surgery.

A sign at the surgery explained what Diana was doing with, live streaming her working life, and constituents could have their identities hidden if they so wished.

The AI powering the Eye, produced a face blur and audio distortion at the touch of a button. A woman seeking accommodation away from an abuser, asked for the stream to be paused for the duration of her meeting, which Diana agreed to.

The next morning she was called by the whips office. She was to have the whip removed.

"It doesn't look good does it. Female MP has whip removed for aiming to be transparent and restoring trust in politics. What does that say about the party?" Asked Diana.

As she was speaking to the chief whip she received an email inviting her on to that day's Politics Live.

"Lucky cow." The chief whip growled. "Your gamble has paid off. You're on thin ice now and you can kiss goodbye to your ministry in the next reshuffle."

It was Diana’s second appearance on Politics Live. After being condemned by an old Etonian on the panel the host asked her to explain herself.

"All MPs have a presence on social media. We utilise the technology of the day to better interact with, respond to and represent our constituents." Said Diana

"Your actions have been described as inappropriate, dangerous even."

"My feed is on a two minute delay, so I have the opportunity to pause and delete anything that could be used by those seeking to do harm, be it Westminster security or personal data." Replied Diana.

"I am trying something new in an attempt to restore trust in Government. The British Social Attitudes survey of 2023 found that only 20% of UK citizens had trust in politicians. Trust could be the most important metric in a democracy and something has to be done to reverse this decline. Scandal after scandal had rightly eroded confidence in politicians and the ability of politics to improve anything. I am determined to show my constituents that I can be trusted and I am their representative in Parliament."

The next day was PMQs. Diana secured a seat behind the front bench. It was the usual rowdy slanging match. A public school debating society dialled up to eleven.

One of Diana's followers clipped a moment from PMQs in which an opposition MP could clearly be seen and heard to shout “stupid bitch” at the deputy Prime Minister. On a slow news day it became a news story and the MP was doorstepped and forced to deny that they were a misogynist.

The following day Diana spent the morning prepping for a Select Committee starting in the afternoon. After yesterday's news the metrics on Diana's feed had quadrupled. Supporters and detractors spent the morning attacking each other. The AI caught most of the abuse and threats, forcing the haters posts to become little more than gobbledegook.

Outside the Select Committee room, Diana was approached by a lobbyist. She recognised his face but couldn’t recall his name. 

“Miss Duncan, how are you?” He offered with a polished smile.

“Very well thank you. You?” She replied

“Good, good. Just got back from the Arabia. Have you seen the progress of Neom?”

“I saw some glossy CGI…” Diana teased. She realised that the lobbyist, having been overseas, did not know that Diana was live streaming this exchange.

Her feed was going wild. Someone had done a reverse face search and confirmed that this person was a lobbyist and had worked for several “unsavoury regimes” over the years.

Another lobbyist approached and whispered in the man’s ear - obviously a warning - as the lobbyist promptly offered his apologies and departed.

“Guys!” Diana said aloud, knowing it was broadcast on her stream. “You almost saw how the sausage gets made…”