General Election results televised for the first time

Image: David Butler, R. B. McCallum and Chester Wilmot at Alexandra Palace, February 1950.

The first time that General Election results were reported on television was on 23 February 1950. The results programme started at 10.45 and ran until 1am, much later than the usual television service, which habitually finished just after 10.30 each night. The election programme was the work of Grace Wyndham Goldie, but BBC concerns about impartiality meant that its scope was restricted, and there was no television coverage of the preceding campaign.

The programme was presented by Richard Dimbleby. Commentary was provided by R B McCallum, David Butler and Chester Wilmot, and the results were illustrated with diagrams and maps. Analysis of the results was permitted but political forecasting was forbidden. Added interest was provided by an outside broadcast from Trafalgar Square, where crowds gathered to watch the latest returns projected on a huge screen.

The audience for the 1950 election programme was not large as only 350,000 television licences were held. However the Coronation of 1953 led to a huge increase in the number of sets in the country and television became a powerful medium, appreciated by politicians and public alike. Subsequent elections built on the pioneering work of 1950, so today election campaigns and results are covered in depth on all platforms.