This one included the clock and continuity announcement before the news, so it would have to be a recording of pres output rather than studio output?
Well, presumably it was on the mastertape, much like when they used to leave the tape run after Blue Peter in the seventies so they could record Newsround as well. But in February 1974, they didn't include the news bulletins but did include the weather, because Barbara Edwards was in the election studio, so presumably it was whatever was coming into the studio.
Seeing John Cole (then of the Observer) appear as a pundit prompts two points:
I don't recall any outcry or accusation of bias against John Cole when he was BBC Political Editor despite the Observer (of which he was Deputy Editor) having backed Labour in the election.
The then Political Editor in 1979, apparently David Holmes, doesn't seem to have taken part in the Election programme, which would be unthinkable these days. Possibly a symptom of BBC News and BBC Current Affairs being separate entities then, and this looks a lot like a Current Affairs production with a bit of news input from Angela Rippon?
As Andy Walmsley's tweet points out, David Holmes was involved in the radio coverage -
https://twitter.com/Radiojottings/status/1125358443873865728
David Butler moved over to the radio in 1983 and did a few elections there. John Cole wasn't featured very prominently in 1983 either, he was only brought out when required on a few occasions, it wasn't until 1987 that he was present throughout the evening. I assume they felt the role of the Political Editor was a bit superfluous on election night with Butler, McKenzie and Day covering his jobs.
As for Cole becoming Political Editor, the Beeb made a specific point of alternating between journalists from both sides because when Cole retired they got Robin Oakley from The Times (and then he was replaced by Andrew Marr who, despite coming from The Independent, was considered more on the left, and then Marr was replaced by Nick Robinson who has a background on the right). But all papers lean one way or the other so any political editor you bring in from a newspaper is going to be associated with one side or the other, and as mentioned if you're that interested in politics to want to report on it, you surely have political views yourself.
Incidentally, this is the bit that was cut out early on - the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show. I gather a repeat was pulled because of the Election purdah period
Yes, it was supposed to be shown on 10th April -
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1979-04-10#at-19.25
Of course, that meant the Radio Times got to bill it as The Show We Couldn't Show. Except they'd already shown it.
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