- UK Government Web Archive
- Themed collections
- 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Cultural Olympiad
- Budget 23 March 2011
- Japan earthquake
- Pakistan flood - summer 2010
- Transparency agenda
- Budget 22 June 2010
- General Election - May 2010
- Volcanic ash cloud
- Budget 24 March 2010
- Financial crisis
- Avian influenza
- Swine influenza
- National security 2006
- A to Z
- Archiving datasets
- Information on web archiving
- Other web archive collections
- Information for webmasters
- Removed web pages
- Themed collections
General Election - May 2010
A General Election took place in the UK on 6 May 2010. The Web Continuity Team worked with colleagues at the Central Office of Information and in other government departments to ensure that the main corporate websites of Central Government departments and selected agencies were archived shortly before and after the election date. It was hoped that this would help prevent information being lost as a result of any changes to the structure of the government which might take place as a consequence of the election.
The election date was announced on 6 April 2010. At this point the pre-election period began, during which time government departments were restricted from adding most types of content to their sites. We archived all websites selected as part of this project on 7 April 2010. The website of the Prime Minister's Office was additionally archived one week before the election and the day before the election due to its particular significance at the time of a General Election.
On 11 May 2010 the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced his resignation which confirmed that a new government would be formed. All selected sites were archived again on around 12 May 2010.
We consider this project to be a success as a great deal of content was removed from websites soon after the General Election which was thereafter only available in the UK Government Web Archive. Figures show a significant increase in the number of visitors being automatically redirected to the Web Archive because information was not available on the live web in the months following the election.
A pilot exercise was also conducted with the aim of attempting to capture social media content posted by Central Government departments on YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. It is very difficult to archive social media content for technological reasons but the pilot was partially successful. Links are provided below to the Twitter and Flickr content archived. It is not possible to play back videos captured from YouTube at present due to technical limitations, however the videos have been archived and we hope to develop an access solution in the future.
Pre-election versions
- BusinessLink
- Cabinet Office
- Central Office of Information
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department for Children, Schools and Families
- Department for Communities and Local Government
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for International Development
- Department for Transport
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Department of Health
- DirectGov
- Electoral Commission
- Environment Agency
- Food Standards Agency
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Health and Safety Executive
- HM Revenue and Customs
- HM Treasury
- Home Office
- Local Government Association
- Ministry of Defence
- Ministry of Justice
- NHS Choices
- Office for National Statistics
- Prime Minister's Office
- UK Trade and Investment
Pre-election Social Media
- BusinessLink
- Cabinet Office
- Central Office of Information
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department for Children, Schools and Families
- Department for Communities and Local Government
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for International Development
- Department for Transport
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Department of Health
- DirectGov
- Electoral Commision
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- HM Treasury
- Ministry of Defence
- Ministry of Justice
- NHS Choices
- Prime Minister's Office
Flickr
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department for Children, Schools and Families
- Department for Communities and Local Government
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for International Development
- Department for Transport
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Department of Health
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- HM Treasury
- Ministry of Justice
- Prime Minister's Office
Additional archived versions of the website of the Prime Minister's Office
Additional archived versions of Prime Minister's Office social media sites
Flickr
Post election versions
- BusinessLink
- Cabinet Office
- Central Office of Information
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department for Communities and Local Government
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Department for Education (formerly Department for Children, Schools and Families)
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for International Development
- Department for Transport
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Department of Health (archived 4 June 2010 at request of department)
- DirectGov
- Electoral Commission
- Environment Agency
- Food Standards Agency
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Health and Safety Executive
- HM Revenue and Customs
- HM Treasury
- Home Office
- Local Government Association
- Ministry of Defence
- Ministry of Justice
- NHS Choices
- Office for National Statistics
- Prime Minister's Office
- UK Trade and Investment
Post Election Social Media
- BusinessLink
- Cabinet Office
- Central Office of Information
- DirectGov (Directgov)
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department for Children, Schools and Families
- Department for Communities and Local Government
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for International Development
- Department for Transport
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Department of Health
- Electoral Commission
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- HM Treasury
- Ministry of Defence
- Ministry of Justice
- NHS
- Prime Minister's Office
Flickr
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- HM Treasury
- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Department for Children, Schools and Families
- Department for Communities and Local Government
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for International Development
- Department for Transport
- Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Department of Health
- Ministry of Justice
- Prime Minister's Office
