Iain Dale is compiling a new edition of his guide to UK political blogging, revising the work that was done last year, and part of that is an appeal for readers of his blog to rank their top 10 political blogs. Liberal Conspiracy and Bob Piper and stating they are opting out of the process as they are unhappy at the way Dale has covered (or not covered) certain stories on his own blog in the past year.

While that may well be the case (and I don’t want to enter that debate) that’s not a major issue for me – I blog mostly about Britain’s relations with the EU and so my blogging has only a tangential link to the everyday fights about Westminster politics from a left- or right-wing perspective. The reason I will be voting (and indeed will even contribute an article to Dale’s book) is that he has, more than anyone else, helped political blogging entering the mainstream of British political discourse. He’s also done that in a way that has broadly as part of the system, rather than as a dissident poking fun at the system, and I have respect for him for that. While I disagree with him on all kinds of political questions, his energy for making politics and politicians use the power of the internet is infectious.

This entry from Tom Harris MP really sums it up – his blog, one of the very best to emerge this year, is motivated in part thanks to Dale’s guide from last year. So go ahead and vote (instructions here) and cast your vote for those blogs that advance the cause of using the internet for politics in the UK – from whatever political hue.

(Oh, and by the way, even though I’m in Brussels part of the time, this blog does count as one you can vote for, but I don’t care much where I end up in the final table)