Election Night 2005

Well Done everyone - apart from BBC Wales (Back to National next time - I hope!)

Afterall, if you don't Welsh TV, then sod off to England.

I thought I would give my two cents, just for another opinion really. I managed to split my coverage between Sky, BBC and ITV throughout the night. Although I watched more of the BBC, I think I saw enough of the rest to make reasonable judgements. Here's my verdicts, Election style:

Presenters
BBC HOLD
I thought the bunch from the BBC were excellent again, providing just the right mixture of laughter and light-heartedness and serious coverage and comment. I thought Julie and Adam were a little dull to say the least, and I'm not a fan of John D's presenting style.

Studio
BBC HOLD
Another great studio from the BBC, a great mix of reality and fakery. Sky's was too cramped, too cold and and the two-shot of Adam and Julie was far to cramped with those horrible silver backings to their laptops. ITV's was ok, but far too dark, and I do like a degree of reality.

State of the Parties Graphics
SKY GAIN
Just on this one. Sky's were good because they fitted nicely and they had what the BBC and ITV lacked - A clock! Why was this omitted this time? The state of the parties graphics were uninspired on the BBC and on ITV, whereas Sky had the full clock, seats still to be declared and turnout graphic, all along the bottom. BBC managed the Share of the Vote graphic, were as I don't think ITV did.

Info Bars and Tickers
ITV GAIN
This was expected to be held by the BBC or taken by Sky, however I feel that ITV's graphics were brilliant. BBC's did have the advantage of being bright, and nicely animated, however they were uninspired! They just followed the usual BBC graphics. ITV's info bar was smooth, and their State of the Parties had a Sky Sports style flash on it occasionally. Sky of course had more info and tickers but they looked naff. The ticker did have its advantages, but it was boring!

Explanationary Graphics
BBC HOLD
I think the BBC really went to town on this one, they looked good and were different. The inclusion of the real life policeman on Downing Street as Snow came out of Number 10 was inspirational! Also, Snow's battleground graphic with the little people, that then flew off the board onto the wall (either a swingometer or target board) were also impressive. Didn't see much of Sky's graphics, they looked rendered better than BBC's but didn't look that interesting. ITV was like BBC's.

Making it more fun
ITV GAIN
This was a hard one, because I couldn't remember who made it more fun last time. ITV's party was way loads better than the BBC's painted map, although that was fun, and way better than Kaplinsky interviews two guests, both John Culshaw, dressed as different people. Tut! Sky had Kay Burley looking tipsy. No contest.

Declaration Graphics
SKY GAIN
They were excellent. From the 'delcaration' 'live' graphic to the very helpful graphic that showed the number of votes as they were said. The BBC should have won this, for the speed at which they displayed facts such as share of the vote, and swing, as well as chnage on '01. ITV done similar but seemed slower. Sky just had the edge on the innovation front.

I thought all were poor on the Live Dog's, compared to the BBC's Vote 2001 spinning one, everyone's were boring.

The results at 13:28 on 07.05.05:

BBC : 3
ITV : 2
Sky : 2

Anyway, as for the coverage, I moved between all the channels and I found myself enjoying the BBC's the most with Paxman, Snow (the battleground - finally a clear way to show the 3 party swings) and that fantastic set - they should have done Breakfast from Paxman's corner and had Darren Jordan at Fiona Bruce's desk for the 1.

Actually, I found BBC Wales's coverage to be excellent. They covered the English counts as well as the ones in Wales, so I'm not quite sure what you're moaning about.

Afterall, if you don't Welsh TV, then sod off to England.

One thing is for sure with presenters in MacKenzie and Edwards the nations needed them more than they needed these programmes. Both have great profiles in the BBC and are respected amongst the punters and politicians alike.

My original post was only expressing annoyance that we might *only* have the choice of the local programme. This would have been a bad thing, because it would have limited the effectiveness of the local programme to cover Scotland, because it would have had to cover all English results.

I take the point Re: Huw, but what does Anne appear on nationally? I've only ever seen her on Newsnight Scotland, and she wasn't the first choice to host the Scottish election programme.

Anyway, I was at a dinner and missed the first half hour or so. Our big screen had BBC on it all night and I was impressed by the coverage - gutted that I didnt get to see the opening on the big screen as it looked very impressive. Paxman showed Galloway for the prat that he is (although some of my friends who hadn't heard of his similar act on ITV were on his side). Having seen his BBC London performance (through the repeat on Parliament) i think the case is closed.

Does anyone have video of big ben striking 10 and Dimbleby declaring the exit poll result?

Well its been years since Anne has done Breakfast with Frost and when was she offered News at Ten?

Good journalist - but i prefer Kirsty Wark.

Anne MacKenzie is a presenter on Radio 4 - The World Tonight and Four Corners.

She stands in for Breakfast with Frost.

Presented Westminster Live.

Who was the first choice then ? - Kirsty Wark was out of this one mate after Villagate. Is Anne less of a journalist than Kirsty or Paxman??

She is also not daft enough to associate too much with politicians - meaning she is a true professional!! I really like Kirsty - but for an intelligent woman she was silly getting into such a pickle with First Minister McConnell. Anne would never do that !!

Fair enough



Years ago, we're reliably informed.



Never seen her do that, but since the show did end a while back...




Kirsty Wark was the first choice, but couldn't be considered for a Scottish opt after Villagate.



Oh come on - the entire Villagate thing was a non story. Wark and McConnell have been friends since they were at University together, these things are unavoidable in a small country with only a few universities (at the time). Obviously if Anne is stuck up in Aberdeen tending the croft and doing housework then she won't run in to Edinbrugh/Glasgow based politicians as friends.

Given that Kirsty's work is mostly based in London there is no real conflict of interest. Some said Jack should have declared the holiday because it may have been "worth" more than £250, he said they just stayed in her villa, which didn't cost her anything. The fact that renting a villa might cost that much isn't really relevant. Jack's right - if not, does it mean if Jack takes his kids to their grandparents for a weekend without checkign the notional cost? The so-called anti-sleaze laws are a joke anyway, Jack had to declare his christmas present from his own wife!

Anyway, getting back to the point, Wark has a much higher national profile than MacKenzie. BBC Scotland would have used Wark given the choice (as they have at the last few elections, and in the same way that Wales used Huw and not a local presenter).