Tag Archives: bob mckenzie

Paul Walter

Vintage election nights: the time a painter had to come on screen to extend the Swingometer

By Paul Walter | Fri 9th February 2018 - 11:55 am

I have always remembered the classic moment when, during the BBC general election night TV coverage of 1970, a painter had to be brought on to extend the swingometer. This was because the Conservative swings were unexpectedly high, and the swingometer didn’t go far enough to cover some of them.

In these days of high tech, it is difficult to believe that such a thing happened. Indeed, as I have recalled the incident over the years, I don’t think many people have believed me.

Continue reading »
Posted in General Election and TV and film | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Advert



Recent Comments

  • Alex Macfie
    The US fashion for "majority-minority" (I think I got it the right way round there) districting needs to be seen in the context of a system where districting is...
  • Alex Macfie
    @Matt (Bristol): had the Brexit referendum been run under an electoral college system (perhaps based on constituencies), then Leave would have won by a landslid...
  • Matt (Bristol)
    I would say, we do need to acknowledge the Electoral College precedent in UK democratic discussions, as its an attempt to find a consensus view that attempts to...
  • Matt (Bristol)
    I think we can acknowledge the feet of clay and obvious flaws of many western democracies - including or own - without rushing to silly words like 'condemn'. ...
  • Peter Martin
    Speaking as a neutral, I would say Lib Dems have now made as much progress as could reasonably be expected against the Tories. Lib Dems did well in July because...