VIEWPOINT
Ahead of the general election, our columnist looks back on previous campaigns – and the politicians she met along the way
Aha! An election is called to be held on 4 July. A familiar jolt of excitement runs through my body. I’m reminded that we’re now in the ‘pre-election period of sensitivity’, known officially as purdah. It’s knowledge that’s been hammered into me since I was 24 years old. The BBC demands impartiality at all times, but great care must be taken to show equal fairness to all candidates and no hint of favouritism that might reveal your own political leanings.
But what does it matter now? This is the first election in 40 years that I won’t have to worry about covering. What a relief. I can simply look back on memories of terrifying encounters with the great and frequently not so good of political stardom and long, boring nights at counts.
The first election I was involved in was something of a disaster. I’d joined the BBC in local radio in Bristol in 1973 as a copytaker in the newsroom, picking up news stories and passing them to the editor. By the election of 1974, I’d been promoted to newsroom secretary and my job was to type and send letters from the editor to each candidate, informing them that we could ensure them a fair hearing.
In my panic at this huge responsibility I put all the letters for the Conservative candidates into envelopes addressed to Labour. I was so bad at such boring work they had to promote me to be a producer and presenter, to which I was far more suited. It was a good lesson for young women in how to get on in those days: be appointed as a typist, do it so badly, having previously shown other talents, and they had to move you up.
Happily, my promotion meant I got a chance to interview the successful candidate for the seat of Bristol East. Tony Benn puffed on his pipe as he waited to join me in the studio – smoking was allowed back then – and sat through my detailed introduction, explaining how he’d abandoned his title as Viscount Stansgate, Anthony Wedgwood Benn in favour of plain Tony Benn.
‘Goodness, Jenni,’ he said, ‘your introduction sounds like my obituary.’ Important lesson learned. Keep it short. As predicted, he kept his eye on the clock and wound up his last answer bang on time. A true professional and one of the most charming men I’ve ever met.
Onward to 1979 when a die-hard northern Labour voter was forced to face the
