1979: Decision '79 Swingometer

Election night rookie David Dimbleby attempts to diffuse Professor Robert McKenzie's partisan support for the swingometer, while David Butler weighs in with a vote for the computer during this coverage of the 1979 general election. At this stage of the 1979 proceedings, the landslide victory for Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives was not yet apparent, with only a 4.5% swing to the right being forecast by this point in the evening.

This was David Dimbleby's first stint as the main anchor for the BBC's election night coverage and, sadly, was Robert McKenzie's last election appearance before his death.

BBC Archive: Originally broadcast 3 May 1979.