London Mayoral & Local Election(s) Coverage 2012

If he were ever to leave Radio 2 - and he's still in his forties - then presumably it'll be because he's tired of daily current affairs and he'd probably want to go and make documentaries or something. And he can still do the elections, Peter Snow did the elections until 2005 but he'd left Newsnight in 1997 to go off and do Tomorrow's World and other things.

I doubt it'd be Paxman replacing Dimbleby on election night because I think he likes what he does on election night as it is. In addition I think he's too much of a political animal for a programme when there is a much larger and much less specialist audience watching than usual. Huw Edwards has political knowledge and live TV experience and people know who he is, it's a no brainer.

You may be interested to see Boylesports odds on this. When Dimbleby had to take a week of a couple of years ago they released the following odds on his replacement:

Jeremy Vine: 2/1
John Humphrys: 3/1
Jeremy Paxman: 4/1
Gavin Esler: 5/1
Andrew Marr: 6/1
Kirsty Wark: 6/1
Andrew Neil: 8/1
Nicky Campbell: 10/1
Kirsty Young: 10/1
Nick Robinson: 12/1
Alistair Campbell: 16/1
Adam Boulton: 16/1
David Mitchell: 20/1
Huw Edwards: 20/1
Emily Maitliss: 25/1
Hardeep Singh-Kohli: 33/1
Stephen Fry: 50/1
Frankie Boyle: 100/1
Richard Keys: 100/1
Andy Gray: 500/1

Kirsty Young is a name no one has mentioned above but I see is 10/1. She seems to have a habit of securing unexpected promotions and is very good on Radio 4!

Those were ridiculously high odds for Keys and Gray. I think it would be worth having a punt on Andrew Neil, but then you'd lose This Week.

2 heavyweights on the political arena at the same odds.

Also, I think some people are forgetting that Paxman is 61 (62 tomorrow) - any replacement would have to have a few years left in them - Huw is 11 years younger, and has some gravitas.

I'd like it to be Nicholas Owen, if only for the imposing voice - Huw is more reserved and quiet in his manner of speaking. Another pie-in-the-sky option would be Jon Snow - again, for the voice, and the gravitas.

Jon Snow *is* Channel 4 however. I've never understood why they like Huw, he's good as a newsreader yes and has a quality voice however on live events and what not I've always found him lacking. He isn't able to adlib as well as others and I personally do not find him very good at getting answers out of people.

Nicholas Owen is far superior.

I agree with wells however, it's hard to actually work out who would be able to step into Dimbleby's shoes.

Maitlis is fantastic though, I'll have nothing but praise for her. I'm not sure why you suggest she's lightweight Rob? I know there was the leather trousers incident however I actually find that rather fab, not least because it can put people off guard at how good she is at interviews.

I don't really know, Pete. Maybe on a subconscious level the leather trousers incident, the fact she larks around so much with Jon Sopel on the BBC News Channel and I seem to recall some rumours floating about 10 years ago that she had to have the camera at a certain angle on BBC London - together they just make me think she's not totally suited to Dimbleby's rather serious role. I don't see Newsnight so often, so I can't really comment on her ability there. I just don't think she has the gravitas that someone like Julie Etchingham does - she could easily pull off an election programme single-handed.

didn't she anchor part of the election night the one time they tried to do it from Millbank? Following the inevitable power cut they had a combination of the N24 studio and then Maitlis took over at an ob in a pub. I don't recall reports of it being the car crash it could have been.

Newsnight has evolved over the years, from being a straight news programme, to being a news programme with a little bit of personality and edge, and I think that's a good thing. Paxman and Maitlis both bring their individual personalities to the programme, and give it something a little extra. Kirsty Wark and Gavin Esler do the same thing, but in a different way to Jeremy and Emily. I would say the programme is a nice balance of personalities, without losing any gravitas.

Personally, I think Jon Sopel is the ideal candidate to take over Dimbleby's election anchor role. Has the knowledge and experience, but also gives it enough personality to make the night interesting for more casual viewers.

You might be thinking about the budget one year.

Or I might be thinking about the 2006 Local Election coverage. See the links below.

http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/?p=2406
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2006/05/lights_out.html
http://www.tvforum.co.uk/thenewsroom/local-elections-2006-tv-specials-20459/page-4

Yes that was great. It was a moment where I started taking notice of Emily Maitlis - she did a fantastic job given the circumstances.

Also, rose tinted spectacles time, but didn't the conversation seem better in that thread back in the day? Not one mention of "Dimbles" or "Maitleby".