1979 General Election: Decision '79

Margaret Thatcher was MP for Finchley from 1959 to 1992, after which she became a Peer in the House of Lords. The constituency of Finchley was abolished in 1997, when it became part of Finchley and Golders Green.

At the stage of the 1979 proceedings featured in the Swingometer clip, 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.