No, Minister

David Miliband, regarded by some (but not Gordon Brown) as the natural heir to Tony Blair, started a blog over at DEFRA - the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

I share Guido's scepticism (see eg the comments) about whether this really does alter very much. If the concern really is popular participation in politics, then why the Government musings about measures that will increase the mathematical turnout without necessarily doing anything about its quality - measures like compulsory and postal voting ?

If voting matters enough to people, and given that they do have reasonable opportunities already, then they'll put themselves in a position to do it, either en route to work (if they work) or on their way home. The problem that needs addressing is why voting doesn't seem to matter: the Government proposals, by contrast, concede its frivolity.