Energy Minister’s question time – on Twitter

Energy Minister Greg Barker is set to embrace twenty-first century technology by answering questions about energy bills via Twitter. Mr Barker will take to the social media platform on Thursday […]

Energy Minister Greg Barker is set to embrace twenty-first century technology by answering questions about energy bills via Twitter. Mr Barker will take to the social media platform on Thursday 6 October for an hour from 11.30am.

Members of the public will have the chance to pose questions about rising energy prices and household energy bills on Twitter using the hashtag #AskEnergy.

A spokesperson for DECC told ELN: “He’s just joined a few weeks ago, and he’s keen to be using social media. It’s good to get through to different audiences.” Asked how the Minister will react if any unwelcome comments came his way, they added: “He’s an MP, he knows how to handle it.”

Mr Barker will answer using the DECC Twitter account, @deccgovuk, during Q&A session, although he has also opened a personal account for the last few weeks (@GregBarkerMP). He belatedly follows the lead of his colleague, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne who has been a Twitter user since October 2009 (@ChrisHuhne).

The DECC spokesperson could not confirm that Energy Minister Charles Hendry would be making his own Twitter debut in the near future.

Questions can also be submitted by email to [email protected] by midnight on 5 October. All questions and answers will be published on DECC’s website after the session.

Latest Podcast