Election Coverage Day 1 April 6th 2010

If you missed the coverage on the opening day, look no further than my idiots’ guide

The date has been announced. Like 3 bald men fighting over a comb, the main parties jostled for our attention so that they can run this small country for the next 5 years.

In an election special the BBC had rolling coverage on BBC 1 simulcast with BBC News of Gordon Brown going to the palace to politely ask the Queen to dissolve parliament. I can imagine she asked him why he was 2 years late and why he wouldn’t hang around for tea because he was quickly seen heading off to St Pancras to go to Kent and kick off his election campaign.

To fill dead air between Police, Camera, Action! type shots from a helicopter following Brown’s cavalcade, there were lots of long two ways with political correspondents in various locations around The Palace of Westminster and Downing Street. Poor Huw Edwards was there all day – up to the 10 O’Clock news – which added some pre-recorded packages from the regions and showing the other leader’s kicking off their campaigns in London.

Sky news had a similar type of coverage.

Newsnight put the icing on the cake – or rather the ice cream – with a rather cynical stunt trying to recreate the famous scene where Blair gave Brown an ice cream on the trail in 1997. ‘Theatrics play a part in politics’ and in political reporting it seems. In a commentator threeway, I agreed most with Daniel Finklestien of The Times, who noted that Cameron’s staged photo ops were the most slick. Especially when he entered a room full of party sympathisers in Birmingham with sleeves rolled up and missing a tie. Nick Clegg took the wise decision, as pointed out by a Lib Dem commentator Olly Grender, to ditch his wife in favour of Vince Cable.

On the cliché-ometer or buzzwordinditcator: ‘change’ is leading the way, then ‘hung-parliment’ and ‘big’ – as in Cameron uses the big prefix ‘big’ too much.

The poll average shows at the moment:

Last date of interviews

Cons Lab Lib Dems

UK Polling Report Average of the main polls:

38 30 20

http://timesonline.typepad.com/election10/poll-watch/

Clem and Stef deliver the business news

From the last TV news day.

Clem Silverman and Stefanie Linhardt.

Harrow ramps up funding for skatepark

Harrow’s ramping up funding for a local skatepark.

The new plan will cost 50,000 pounds and will see an extension of the popular site. It will hopefully be ready in time for the summer.

Clem Silverman got his skate on and went to check it out…

Tibetan Protests Outside Chinese Embassy

Protesters stood outside the Chinese embassy in London on the 10th of March, marking 51 years since the Tibetan uprising in 1959.

The David Miliband, the foreign secretary, travels to China and is expected to make a diplomatic representation of the issues.

Me reports.

New Talent at London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is not just a showcase for famous designers, new work is also on display at off-schedule events for budding creators,

Stefanie Linhardt and Clem Silverman went down to Covent Garden to find out more.

You could die 10 years younger

A tale of 3 boroughs.

Andrew Stewart reports on a Harrow council report that says living at the wrong end of town could mean you die 10 years sooner.