North Wales MP explains why she’s started limiting Twitter replies claiming it’s ‘not the place’ to talk to constituents

Wrexham’s MP has explained why she has started limiting who can reply to her posts on Twitter.

The social media network recently introduced a new feature allowing users to either restrict comments to only those they follow or mention — or disable them altogether.

Conservative Sarah Atherton is among a number of people who have started using it and has also added a disclaimer to her biography telling people not expect a response from her on Twitter.

The move has attracted criticism from some of her constituents, who have accused her of trying to shut down any criticism or debate.

One user who contacted her said: “Engage with your constituents, stop hiding behind your self censoring social media.”

However, Ms Atherton has now claimed that the site is “not the place” to talk to residents.

She said: “Perhaps the biggest upside of being an MP is the ability to engage with residents, whether that is engaging with constituents at street surgeries, meetings with local community groups or via email.

“I am always happy to hear your thoughts, answer your enquiries, and help with an issue you might be dealing with.

“However, the comments section of Twitter is not the place to deal with any of this.

“Resident’s queries often get lost in the sea of notifications.

“That is why I was pleased to see that Twitter had introduced a ‘turn comments off’ option, encouraging residents to contact me directly, with all of the necessary information, so that their queries could be dealt with efficiently and in accordance to parliamentary protocol.”

Ms Atherton stated that she mainly used social media to keep residents updated on her work in Wrexham and Westminster.

The former nurse, who was elected in December as the constituency’s first ever Tory MP, said she had also used it to to share important public health information regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

While she acknowledged the decision to control who can contact her on Twitter had caused anger, she insisted she would prefer to engage with residents via e-mail.

She said: “I believe that it is important for individuals to be able to contact their elected representatives; and have made my contact details readily available for anyone who wishes to contact me, on my website, in local newspapers and magazines, digital adverts, and indeed on my social media channels.

“The majority of constituents already contact me via e-mail, however, I understand that my decision to use social media in this way has caused a degree of frustration amongst some residents.

“I wish to emphasise that I welcome, and encourage, anyone across Wrexham who needs my help to get in touch via my email address: sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk”

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter