Today marks the local and London Mayoral elections, and I am looking forward to watching hours of speculation, counting and talking. It is interesting to find out what the future holds for the politics of our country, but also hours of live television to fill during the middle of the night ends up creating some great awkward television.
So in celebration of this here is our selection of the best elections coverage moments so far.
The graphics
When Peter Snow retired his swingometer, journalist Jeremy Vine was there to take over the reins. Nowadays Vine has more graphics available to him than just a simple indicator of which party is winning. Back in 2007 Vine and co decided that the best way to cover the general election was to call the votes for the then Liberal Democrat leader, Ming Campbell, ‘Ming’s bling’. This was alongside a CG Ming Campbell who was attracting the younger voters by rapping and showing his moves.
Cowboys help to explain the election process too.
The dedication
The 2010 general election gave the UK a coalition government for the first time in decades. As a result there was many hours of coverage and David Dimbleby ended up hosting for 18 hours straight.
Dimbleby is hosting tonight, starting off at 10.35 with Question Time and then leading into the coverage of the local and London Mayoral elections. While you are getting the insights as to what has happened at the polls then enjoy an insight into Dimbleby by following Dimblebot on Twitter as he “destroys” the panel on Question Time and then more than likely the candidates standing for election too.
Boris Johnson
Johnson is hoping that he will get re-elected as the Mayor for London tonight. But back in 2010 he was questioned by Jeremy Paxman about the role of the Conservative party in the coalition government, where Johnson declared that the Tories needed to be the meat in the coalition sausage. To be honest this is behaviour expected of Johnson.
So settle in front of the television tonight and look out for the ridiculous moments that will happen when politicians and live television meet. Vote 2012 starts on BBC One at 11.35pm.