Election '74

[Central Rain]

For anyone who is into this sort of thing, the BBC's full coverage of the February 74 General Election is currently available on iPlayer.

Link

[KGR]

Election '74

There's something very assuring about Robert McKenzie's authoritative tone.

That programme lasts six hours - I'll not get any work done at all today unless I turn it off!

I find these programmes fascinating.

[Gangster Octopus]

Election '74

I got so drunk at that election that I ended up with my own bedroom. Result.

[KGR]

Election '74

Gangster Octopus wrote: I got so drunk at that election that I ended up with my own bedroom. Result.

You can't leave us hanging on that! More.

Back to that coverage, I enjoyed Desmond Wilcox interviewing the public at Trafalgar Square. Go to 1:47 (1 hour 47) for the first taste of it. Couldn't happen now for sure.

[KGR]

Election '74

For those who enjoy the 1974 style of weather-forecasting, go to 4 hr 22 minutes into Part II of the election special here.

I have no idea who the female forecaster is.

Judging by the commentary during Part II, Feb 1974 seems to be the first where the Liberals started to make a serious argument for a form of PR voting. Just the 40 years on, that still seems a lifetime away from actually happening.

[My Name Is Ian]

Election '74

OhmigodOhmigodOhmigod.

I need to clear the space in me schedule to watch that from start to finish.

[KGR]

Election '74

My Name Is Ian wrote: OhmigodOhmigodOhmigod.

I need to clear the space in me schedule to watch that from start to finish.

Beware, there are TWO six-hour programmes, not just the one!

[My Name Is Ian]

Election '74

Don't think for a second that I'm not capable of surrendering a quarter of my weekend to it.

[Central Rain]

Election '74

I believe the weather forecaster was Barbara Edwards.

I quite liked Vincent Hanna's brutally efficient interview technique: "John Hume - comment?"

[KGR]

Election '74

Not sure how to link to a precise moment within a programme, but it's awkward viewing on 5 hr 21 minutes in Part 2 when the Liberals are having a Press conference but with Thorpe on the phone from his home in Devon. Thorpe's chat with Cyril Smith is particularly of its time, and difficult viewing knowing now what we know about Mr Smith.

[Central Rain]

Election '74

That looked a lot like the conversation of two men who cordially loathed each other.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

The BBC are replaying coverage from a different election each weekend in May, and putting them on the iplayer as well, obviously.

I ploughed through hours of confusion from 2010 the other day. The bit where Priti Patel was shown in passing as a newly elected MP was like a flashback moment in a murder mystery.

I'm on 1964 now as today's working background. Alan Whicker is the roving reporter in Trafalgar Square. The captions are hand-written or hand-assembled and there are big dark lines running through the pictures, where the film has been damaged. Jimmy Edwards has been whacko'd in his attempt to win Paddington North for the Tories. The breaking non-election news is that Kruschev has been ousted. The Beatles keep getting mentioned (including the a repeated gag that the uncertainty of the early results means it will be a hard day's night before we know who has won). It's like an Ealing Studios version of a General Election.

On the results side these were the seats which went from the Tories to Labour - surprising how marginal Liverpool and Greater Manchester were at the time.

Bolton East, Buckingham, Bury and Radcliffe, Carlisle, Derbyshire South East, Dover, Epping, Glasgow Kelvingrove, Glasgow Pollok, Glasgow Woodside, Gravesend, The Hartlepools, Heywood and Royton, Hitchin, Kingston upon Hull North, Liverpool Kirkdale, Liverpool Toxteth, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool West Derby, Manchester Blackley, Manchester Wythenshawe, Preston South, Rochester and Chatham, Rutherglen, Stockport North, Stockport South, Sunderland South, Swansea West, Watford

There were some huge disparities in constituency size - from Wiki's list of televised declarations alone there is a range from 24,000 votes (Liverpool Exchange) to almost 80,000 (Billericay).

[longeared]

I watched the 2010 coverage when it was on BBC Parliament the other week which was all a bit of a novelty for me - for various reasons I didn't sit up for it on the night itself. Patel was mentioned in a clumsy graphic of something like "newly elected Asian women" alongside a Labour MP for part of Birmingham. Newbies Alok Sharma and George Eustice were shown on screen giving speeches, and there were graphics for Amber Rudd, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan, none of who are in the Commons now of course. Also liked the general lack of sightings of modern politicians, Gove was on a couple of times, Sadiq Khan held on to Tooting to save his political career and that was pretty much it. The other clear highlight was Andrew Neil on that boat on the Thames where he asked a pissed up Bruce Forysth for his thoughts on the exit poll.

The weird thing about the coverage in general was the way that the inconclusive result meant the discussions just got stuck. Normally on election night there comes a time around daybreak when they move to the strands of "what will the government do with this mandate, how will the opposition regroup" and they couldn't do either of those on this occasion, they just went round and round trying to work out what the numbers added up to and guessing what the eventual outcome might be.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Similarly, I remember I was at work the day after the 2010 election so I wouldn't have stayed up late for that one, and would have gone to bed around midnight. I also noticed Soubry's declaration and Morgan and Rudd - as you suggest quite striking that all three had parliamentary careers of only nine years (and all became prominent during that time) compared to some prominent MPs from 1964 who were already well into their careers and carried on well into the 80s.

I'm still on 1964, they are rattling through a deluge of results and barking out facts about each one, "Stalybridge and Hyde, these are the Cheshire cotton towns...Nantwich, famous for salt of course....Wallsend - have we nothing to say about Wallsend? - Docks, turbines and coal...".

[Capybara]

On the results side these were the seats which went from the Tories to Labour - surprising how marginal Liverpool and Greater Manchester were at the time.

Bolton East, Buckingham, Bury and Radcliffe, Carlisle, Derbyshire South East, Dover, Epping, Glasgow Kelvingrove, Glasgow Pollok, Glasgow Woodside, Gravesend, The Hartlepools, Heywood and Royton, Hitchin, Kingston upon Hull North, Liverpool Kirkdale, Liverpool Toxteth, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool West Derby, Manchester Blackley, Manchester Wythenshawe, Preston South, Rochester and Chatham, Rutherglen, Stockport North, Stockport South, Sunderland South, Swansea West, Watford

The new MP for Buckingham was, of course, Robert Maxwell ...

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Still in 1964, the Carlisle result is shown. There is some chat around the "curious situation" that the incumbent Tory was deselected by the constituency party, stood as an Independent but that the number of votes he diverted still wouldn't have been enough for the Tories to win. After that there is still time for the trivia snippet - "Carlisle, where the government owns the pubs!".

Ron Lewis won the seat for Labour and kept it for 23 years. I've heard it said that he never made his maiden speech in the House in all that time, but don't know if that's true. Eric Martlew won for Labour in 1987 (defending Lewis's majority of 71) and held on for a further 23 years before retiring and the next Labour candidate in 2010 was beaten by the Tory we've still got now. Three MPs in my lifetime.

Which brings us back to 2010 again and something I forgot to mention - the Carlisle declaration was shown live and the Lib Dem candidate was Neil from the 7-Up series.

Back in 1964, Nigel Lawson and Antony Howard are on now as very young looking pundits.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Ted Dexter eating humble pie after standing against Jim Callaghan in what was a previously marginal Cardiff South East and getting somewhat hit for six.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Disappointingly the rest of this run will be 1979 this weekend, and 1997 the weekend after. They showed the former last year on the 40th anniversary, and the latter three years ago on the 20th.

1970 and the '74s haven't been on since their respective 40th anniversaries, and some have gone even longer since last being shown. Some of them would be fairly grim viewing but still, they are always interesting time capsules.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Onto part 2 of 1964 - the following day, as results continue to come in, and it is clear that Labour will be the largest party, but in doubt whether they'll get an overall majority.

Mark Bonham Carter has been beaten by the Tories. Robin Day has just interviewed Harold Wilson live by phone while the latter was on a train to Euston, the audio drenched in feedback and possibly the first use of "sorry - went through a tunnel and lost signal!" on British television. Magnus Magnusson has been vox-popping in Birmingham. Someone is vox-popping in London and has just interviewed a stockbroker in a top hat (the stockbroker not the interviewer).

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Entering the home stretch and Douglas-Home has been to the palace to resign. Wilson is waiting on the last relevant result (which will officially give him a majority) announcement before he goes. Clement Atlee - 81 at the time and a man who left school just after Queen Victoria died - is in the studio being interviewed.

Other observations - there was no exit poll (they were extrapolating the swing from the first few results, which meant for much of the night they were predicting a Labour of 29); and it took me a while to work out that UUP wins counted in the Conservative total (as did National Liberal).

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

How long is this stuff likely to be available on i-player? I'd love to watch it (esp 1964) but nowhere near enough time right now.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

How long is this stuff likely to be available on i-player? I'd love to watch it (esp 1964) but nowhere near enough time right now.

28 days is the usual retention period but they seem to be leaving some things on longer now. Some of them are on YouTube as well.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I've started watching 1997, though it will take me a few days to get through. First surprise is that they had Frank Skinner as roving reporter, he's currently flying round in a helicopter.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Jeremy Paxman has just had his first set piece with Portillo (this after the exit poll but before the first result), in which he asks him if he's going to miss the ministerial limo. Portillo has a face like a smacked arse, which will of course remain the case for the rest of the night.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Two results in and Stephen Dorrell is saying "yeah but you got it wrong in 92".

There is a lot of hair around.