Oh what a night
It's the one night when the politicians are at the mercy of the people and, given that it only comes around every five years, election night is compulsory viewing for a lot of people. Most people can remember where they were when Labour swept to power in '97, but where will you be tonight?
As always, the broadcasters are locked in a fierce battle for viewers, with the main networks all promising something special for election night. Much success traditionally hinges on who can build the most impressive studio set - which, I suppose, is understandable, as the broadcasters will need more than statistics to keep the viewers hooked for 8 hours. Back in 1997, all the main players boasted that their sets took 6 million years to construct and had to be built on the moon as there wasn't simply wasn't enough room left on earth, and it looks like this year will be no exception.
The set for the BBC's creatively-titled Vote 2001: The Verdict, will be big, purple, and include a cybercafe, where 'real' people will be on hand to give their opinion of what's going on. The focal point will be a rather nasty-looking V-shaped desk that bears more than a passing resemblance to an Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars. Oh, and of course the set-up wouldn't be complete without the legendary swingometer.
ITV are shouting about the fact that their orange, two-storey set is "the size of a small house". Personally, I'm not incredibly impressed by this as, if you tried to cram a vast team of presenters, pundits, politicians and number-crunchers into my student pad in Botley, countless lives would be lost. Still, they'll also be using some funky virtual-reality wizardry to liven up those vital statistics.
With all this in mind, you might be surprised to know that there are actually some people involved too. Over at the Beeb, the usual suspects are all there: David Dimbleby, Peter Snow, Jeremy Paxman, political editor Andrew Marr, plus Fiona Bruce, and reporters in all the key spots nationwide. David's little brother, Jonathan, is at the helm over on ITV, along with Mary Nightingale, Dermot Murnaghan and Marr's counterpart, John Sergeant plus, of course, those all-important men and women in the field.
This time, though, both networks are bragging about the addition of women to the 'grey-haired men' line-ups. Sadly, this doesn't mean that Britney Spears will be replacing Peter Snow on the swingometer, but Bruce and Nightingale will be playing key roles on the BBC and ITV respectively, and the lovely Katy Derham will be ITV's roving reporter for the night.
But let's not forget about Sky News. They might be the rank outsiders, but they're still shouting about their ambitious interactive results programme, to be broadcast from a completely computer-generated studio. Viewers will be able to access extra information via their remote controls. And CNN will be doing something a bit different, providing a pan-European perspective on the whole shebang, hosted by ex-BBC political editor Robin Oakley.
So now you know what's on offer, it's time to decide where you're going to spend the night. Aside from the obvious (if somewhat dull) JCR/College Bar/own room options, the Union will be holding an all-nighter, with a big-screen TV, all-night bar and food on sale. OUCA, OULC and OULD will all be holding their own parties for members, although something tells me that the OUCA bash might be a tad depressing, unless Ed Matts manages to take the Oxford West seat.
Chances are that, if you're going to one of these events, you'll be watching the action on the BBC, but ITV's coverage is by no means the poor relation. You might be surprised to hear that, last time around, it was ITV who called most of the results (and Labour's victory) first. And, unlike the US networks last year, they didn't get it wrong.
8th Jun 2001