Election 2017: Amazon sets Alexa up as voice-controlled source of latest political news

When the polls close, the assistant will be able tell you the results as they come in

Alexa is trying to get involved in the election in a very new way

Amazon has rolled out a range of new general election-themed skills to its Alexa voice assistant.

If you own a compatible device, such as the Echo home speaker, you can keep up-to-date with election news just by speaking to it.

Amazon has promised to keep content updated regularly, in order to ensure Alexa always has accurate information about “the latest campaign developments”.

We asked Amazon to clarify where the content will come from and whether it will be created internally or come from third-party sources.

"It is part of Alexa's knowledge graph," Amazon told The Independent.

Facebook this week launched Perspectives, a politically-focused online tool that’s designed to make it easier for you to compare the major political parties’ stances on a number of issues, including housing, energy, the economy and foreign affairs.

However, the social network has stressed that Perspectives will be completely impartial, so as not to potentially mislead any users.

Alexa appears to be aiming to deliver key information to users almost in real-time, which is a much more difficult task, considering how quickly things can swing.

Amazon says it will be able to explain things like what the polls are currently predicting, when the debates are and who can vote.

Example questions shared by the company include:

• “Alexa, what is the polling like?” 
• “Alexa, what's the latest with The Labour Party?”
• “Alexa, what’s the latest with Theresa May?”
• “Alexa, what’s the latest with the election?”

When the polls close, Amazon says Alexa will be able tell you the results as they come in.

“Ask ‘Alexa, who is winning the election?’ and Alexa will tell you which party is in the lead, the number of seats the party has won, the total number of seats currently declared, and the number of seats won by the parties in second and third place,” Amazon says.