This podcast is sponsored by Seller Plan from Berry Brothers and Rudd, collecting fine wines for future drinking.

Welcome to The Spectator Podcast. I'm Isabel Hardman. On this week's episode, we'll be looking at the social media revolution which could sweep the Tories away.

We're also going to be discussing next week's budget

and agonising about the state of the nation with Geoffrey Archer.

First up, whether it's Jeremy Corbyn, Donald Trump or the Brexiteers,

successful politicians seem to have one thing in common,

a command of social media.

But what about Theresa May and her party?

In the magazine this week, Robert Peston is concerned

that the Prime Minister might be left behind if she fails to grasp the importance of the internet.

He joins me now, along with Jamie Bartlett, director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, and a tech blogger for Coffee House and Joe Todd from Momentum.

So, Robert, you say that the lack of internet savvy amongst the Tories is the party's

greatest structural weakness. Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration given me the other problems?

Well, it is a structural weakness as opposed to many of the other weaknesses, which may not be

quite so fundamental. But I didn't say it's its worst weakness, but it's certainly an

important weakness because in the battle for the marginal voter, the swing voter, the battleground

is undoubtedly social media and the Tories are literally hopeless, nowhere in that battle.

Why are they so hopeless?

They've got lots of money.

They can employ non-hopeless people.

They don't have to try to do it in-house.

So part of the problem is that they haven't employed particularly smart people in this area recently.

...