The UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared live on Facebook for the first People’s Prime Minister Questions (PMQs) – cutting out mainstream media outlets and speaking directly to, and taking questions from, the people.
During the session, he made sensational statements against Remainer MPs and accused them of stopping Brexit by collaborating with the EU.
This Facebook live session by the British PM was a semi-replica of the PMQs that are generally held in the House of Commons. The PM was seated at a desk with a red London bus in the background and an iPad installed in-front of him.
A public interaction such as the PMQs are usually broadcasted by the mainstream media outlets; however, the decision to conduct a live session over a social media platform seems to be a new approach towards reaching masses.
The PM himself said that communicating with the general public through a live session on Facebook has allowed him to take questions in an ‘unpasteurized’ and ‘unmediated’ manner, clearly indicating that the politicians are slowly migrating to tech-savvy solutions such as social media.
The People’s PMQs live session on Facebook attracted more than 7000 live viewers. The Prime Minister answered several questions surrounding the EU, mental health, Brexit, and more. While this session was held in No 10 and broadcasted live, the normal PMQs will resume from the first week of September during which the Prime Minister will face Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from the Dispatch Box.
All through the live session, the Prime Minister answered questions posed through the comment section right next to his broadcast window. Theresa May has always taken the traditional route of House of Commons for PMQs; the latest PM Boris Johnson is the first to take the route of social media without waiting for the Commons to resume.
Also, it is to be noted that this live session is not the first one for the UK PM as he had previously done a similar live session through a broadcast platform for announcing a new immigration policy that makes it easier for scientists to work in the UK. In this live session, he also spoke about recruiting more police, clean energy proposals and so on.
