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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
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Jack Kessler

OPINION - I'm addicted to old BBC election night broadcasts — this is what I've learnt

Jim Callaghan Margaret Thatcher Ted Heath David Owen Taylor Swift SDP Cleopatra Margaret Beckett Robin Day United States

On reflection, David Owen was probably too “leading man handsome” to help the SDP break the mould of British politics. That’s right, I’ve been re-watching old BBC election night broadcasts again. This time, it’s back to the Seventies and Eighties for Ted Heath’s miscalculation, Jim Callaghan’s sunny (albeit misplaced) optimism and Margaret Thatcher’s gradual descent into using the royal “we”.

The picture quality on YouTube marks a noted decline around 1983, while the rumours are true — the Seventies really were a red-letter decade for makers of anything that could conceivably be plastered in beige or grey. And I’m not just talking about Alec Douglas-Home.

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