These are the programmes that record history and live forever in the archives. After a banal and frustrating campaign, the broadcasters threw everything they had into election night – and they offered viewers and listeners more choice than ever before. It was the election when the BBC patriarchy – the decades of David Dimbleby and then Huw Edwards – gave way to a new generation; and when Channel 4 made an audacious raid into the corporation’s territory. It was also an opportunity, if you ventured over to GB News, to experience 2024’s historic result from a raucous watch party in Essex, where presenters were pulling pints at the bar. This was unique, and not in a good way.
The principal broadcasters shared a customary professionalism. But they were interchangeable – almost everything could have appeared on any channel (except for the unsettling response to the surge of Reform on GB News). But they were also noticeably slower than social media: if you followed the right people, the emerging narrative was found first on Twitter. For some reason the broadcasters dwelled for a long time on the exit poll, and were strangely reluctant to bring in the actual results as the unfolded. Take for example Barnsley North: the exit poll predicted this as a Reform gain, but Labour won it comfortably. Why was the expected tally of 13 seats for Reform (three times more than they won) on the screen for hours?
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