TV coverage of elections

[Foggy]

May 1, 2017 2:05:50 GMT Andrew_S said:

Apr 30, 2017 20:00:28 GMT swanarcadian said:

Thanks. I missed that because I was on holiday in Jersey and sharing a room with people slightly less fascinated by elections than me. My brother even hid the TV remote from me. It would have been nice to have seen the first Tory win in any parliamentary by-election for eight years.

I remember watching this very clearly, particularly the rather longwinded speech by the Labour candidate Andy Slaughter. I ought to make some notes on what I recall from it before watching it since it would be a good memory test. For example I seem to remember that there was talk of the Tory majority being only a few hundred votes just a short time before the declaration was made which I was surprised by since they won it by a few thousand. The by-election took place in that brief period of time when Tony Blair was prime minister but before the death of Princess Diana, a time I associate with things like the advent of the Channel 5 TV station and their zany news programme presented by Kirsty Young.

Channel 5 launched before Tony Blair became Prime Minister.

[Andrew_S]

May 1, 2017 2:07:07 GMT Foggy said:

May 1, 2017 2:05:50 GMT Andrew_S said:

I remember watching this very clearly, particularly the rather longwinded speech by the Labour candidate Andy Slaughter. I ought to make some notes on what I recall from it before watching it since it would be a good memory test. For example I seem to remember that there was talk of the Tory majority being only a few hundred votes just a short time before the declaration was made which I was surprised by since they won it by a few thousand. The by-election took place in that brief period of time when Tony Blair was prime minister but before the death of Princess Diana, a time I associate with things like the advent of the Channel 5 TV station and their zany news programme presented by Kirsty Young.

Channel 5 launched before Tony Blair became Prime Minister.

Yes I know, it launched just at the start of the 1997 election campaign. I was just talking in general about things that were happening around that time without being too precise.

[Andrew_S]

Question: on the Uxbridge video entitled "The Midnight Hour: Uxbridge Byelection special", is it Gavin Barwell on the right-hand side of the screen at 10 mins 22 secs? It looks very much like him. He would have been 25 years old at the time.



Also, I was wondering whether this was the only by-election special where David Dimbleby was at the count while presenting the show? I can't think of any other occasions. At first I couldn't understand how he got from the Midnight Hour studio to the count in a few minutes but I think they must have set up a special studio in the same building as the count which was the sports hall of Brunei University.

[Foggy]

May 1, 2017 2:30:10 GMT Andrew_S said:

Also, I was wondering whether this was the only by-election special where David Dimbleby was at the count while presenting the show? I can't think of any other occasions. At first I couldn't understand how he got from the Midnight Hour studio to the count in a few minutes but I think they must have set up a special studio in the same building as the count which was the sports hall of Brunei University.

That really would've been quite a dash from Bandar Seri Begawan to Middlesex and back!

[Harry Hayfield]

I was helping my grandparents with the Royal Welsh Show during that week and after four days we were all completely worn out (so I didn't stay up to watch it) but I do remember visiting the Conservative stand at the show and offering my best wishes to Mr. Randall in the by-election (knowing that the Lib Dems had no chance of winning the seat)

[Davıd Boothroyd]

May 1, 2017 2:30:10 GMT Andrew_S said:

Question: on the Uxbridge video entitled "The Midnight Hour: Uxbridge Byelection special", is it Gavin Barwell on the right-hand side of the screen at 10 mins 22 secs? It looks very much like him. He would have been 25 years old at the time.

I think so. He was working for CCO at the time, having been a Special Adviser in 1995-97, so would certainly have been deployed to help in byelections.

[johnloony]

May 1, 2017 2:30:10 GMT Andrew_S said:

Question: on the Uxbridge video entitled "The Midnight Hour: Uxbridge Byelection special", is it Gavin Barwell on the right-hand side of the screen at 10 mins 22 secs? It looks very much like him. He would have been 25 years old at the time.

Haha! Well spotted. Also, the UKIP candidate was James Feisenberger who was the chairman of UKIP in Croydon for many years.

[manchesterman]

Interesting to see thje UKIP vote there was..umm.. 39!!  (one-tenth of the OMRLP vote) 

[Davıd Boothroyd]

All six hours 20 minutes of the BBC's coverage of the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum is now up:

[afleitch]

Thank you sir

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Paisley South byelection special (6 November 1997, well technically the early hours of 7 November):

[msc]

Wonderful work, David Boothroyd! I've never seen the 1997 devolution show before, as we were on holiday in France at the time. Found out about the result when the car broke down and we wound up in a small garage outside Paris, owned by a highly enthusiastic French mechanic who was delighted about the result.

So delighted, in fact, that Mum eventually convinced him to take a bottle of wine as payment, as he was rejecting money "on this great day for Scotland". Being 10, that's as much as I can remember: I was far more interested about going to Disneyland a few days later!

Also, interesting to see the Paisley South by-election show, although, obviously, the circumstances for that by-election being necessary are terrible.

[No Offence Alan]

May 21, 2017 18:25:17 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

Paisley South byelection special (6 November 1997, well technically the early hours of 7 November):

Just spotted myself, wearing a tie(!) and a Lib Dem rosette at 2:16.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

May 21, 2017 19:11:54 GMT No Offence Alan said:

May 21, 2017 18:25:17 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

Paisley South byelection special (6 November 1997, well technically the early hours of 7 November)

Just spotted myself, wearing a tie(!) and a Lib Dem rosette at 2:16.

Who's that just on the right of the shot at 26:39 ?

[Devil Wincarnate]

May 21, 2017 19:20:15 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

May 21, 2017 19:11:54 GMT No Offence Alan said:

Just spotted myself, wearing a tie(!) and a Lib Dem rosette at 2:16.

Who's that just on the right of the shot at 26:39 ?

And in the same shot, Helmut Kohl appears to be just behind Swinney.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

And here is the Winchester and Beckenham byelection special from later in November 1997.

[Deleted]

It was genuinely believed Labour could have picked up Uxbridge and Beckenham in those by-elections. The opinion polls were certainly pointing to it. The same goes for Eddisbury two years later.
I have no doubt Labour were ahead by double digits for most of that Parliament, but suspect the leads weren't as massive the polls were showing. Perhaps it was the low turnout that prevented Labour making net gains in 2001.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

If Beckenham had happened first, before Uxbridge, then it might have been a different story - because I think it might have been more receptive to a new Labour razzmatazz style election campaign, and because Jacqui Lait didn't have any of the local links which John Randall did. But after Uxbridge the party wasn't inclined to throw the kitchen sink at trying to gain even more Tory seats, because failing to win Uxbridge had been a small blow to morale.

Bob Hughes's speech at the count was a good one though.

[The Bishop]

May 24, 2017 8:53:16 GMT swanarcadian said:

It was genuinely believed Labour could have picked up Uxbridge and Beckenham in those by-elections. The opinion polls were certainly pointing to it. The same goes for Eddisbury two years later.
I have no doubt Labour were ahead by double digits for most of that Parliament, but suspect the leads weren't as massive the polls were showing. Perhaps it was the low turnout that prevented Labour making net gains in 2001.

I don't think there is much "perhaps" about that one.

IIRC the poll whch got closest to the result then (ICM) was the only one to get near to predicting the huge drop in turnout.

[richard]

Did anybody record bbc scotlands brexit vote coverage night if so could they upload it along with any coverage from the local elections of 2013