ELECTION NIGHT 1967
21:30, Thursday 4 May, CBC 1
CBC 1 Election Results 1967
Bringing you the fastest news of the night … Comment … Analysis … Prediction …
It’s 9:29, election night, May 4 1967. We in the studio are waiting now to bring you the result of the votes that have been cast throughout the day.
But now, before we begin, the very, very first result of the night. We have it here on this piece of paper, and we’re loading it into this very special machine which will bring it to you, and to us, as fast as it can possibly be brought to you. And there on your screen is the first result of the night:
ASTON VILLA 3 : 1 CLAPTON COMMUNITY
—a result which I think might have more electoral repercussions in Clapton than it will in Aston.
But now, to the 600 results which are really concerning us in the coming hours.
The information comes in, as you can see, to this machine, as quickly as we can get it. Once it comes it, it flashes through the studio and onto your screens. And of course it also comes to me, and to my colleagues. Cliff Michelmore is standing by, as are Roy Spector, Sylvia Leighton and our very special guest commentator this evening, Bob Boothby. I am Tony Benn.
What happens in the next few hours, as we find out how the country voted – and what it means for the next four years – we will report, comment on and unpick throughout the evening. But of course, the pollsters think they already know how we voted, and if you look at their very latest results you will see that they vary from a coalition majority of 110 – that is to say, a combined majority of 120 for the Labour Unionists and the Popular Front – to a coalition majority of only 65.
But in the final analysis, it’s not the few thousand whom the pollsters ask who determine the form that our new government shall take, but us: the 44 million voters of this country who’ve been today to cast our vote.
This is, of course, the first election to take place under the reformed system passed in 1964, which increased the size of the People’s Assembly from 450 to 600 seats, and also abolished the system of electing regional councils who in turn elect a national parliament. Tonight, for the first time, we will be tabulating our results according to a direct, proportional system. What this means is that each region will elect a certain number of Assembly Members, the exact number decided by the size of its population, in proportion to the share of the vote achieved by every party in that region.
CBC reporters are in position up and down the country to give us the latest news on the ground in, and to give us an idea also of the mood in each region as we the results begin to make themselves clear.
When, you may ask, will we have an idea of what the final outcome will be? Well, as every returning officer in the Commonwealth will tell you, the key thing in vote counting is accuracy, not speed. But this does not stop counting stations from engaging in the traditional race to declare first. In 1963, some of you may recall that our first result came in from Cheltenham shortly after 10 o’clock, and no doubt counters in Cheltenham tonight will be looking to see whether they can retain their crown this year.
But it must be remembered that results from individual stations only give us one small piece of the puzzle, and it is not until all the stations in any given region have verified their results and declared them that we can begin to talk about the real hard currency of the night: seats in the Assembly.
Over the course of the night, our analysts will use all of the data we accumulate from results across the country to build a picture of the situation as it stands, and to draw from this a projection of what seems likely to occur, given historic voting patterns, demographic distribution and other factors. These we will continue to update throughout the night.
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Now Bob Boothby, who has joined us here in the studio tonight, is no stranger to the ins and outs of national politics. You stepped down from the Assembly in advance of this election, but no doubt you will be just as invested in it as if you were standing yourself. What is your feeling, going into the night?
“Well, Tony, it has not been a regular campaign by any means. Chairman Bevan’s death in March has certainly cast a shadow over proceedings, and I think Dick Crossman had a great challenge to overcome in putting his own case for the Labour Unionist Party forward to the voters. David Lewis, by contrast, has stepped into the premiership quite naturally, and he is a veteran figure now in the consciousness of the country. I think a majority for the government is likely, but I would not be surprised if we see some shifting of power within the coalition.”
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The time now is 10:05 and we have our first declaration of the night, which comes in – as anticipated – from Cheltenham. Now Cheltenham voted quite reliably in favour of the Popular Front at the last time of asking, as indeed did the whole of the South West, so the thing to look out for here will be to see how the Popular Front vote holds up. A strong performance could be an indicator, as has been suggested by some pollsters, that David Lewis’s party might overtake the Labour Unionists as the largest party in the Assembly.
And we cut now to the returning officer in Cheltenham:
“Ladies and gentlemen—As returning officer for the borough of Cheltenham, I declare that the votes polled for each party at this election are as follows: Communist Party of the Commonwealth of Britain – 2,005; Communist Party of Great Britain – 67; Communist Workers’ Group – 128; Group for Action – 4,659; Labour Unionist – 13,077; New Socialist Front – 6,162; Popular Front – 24,199. The total number of votes cast was 50,296.”
There we have it, then – a resounding lead for the Popular Front in Cheltenham, which suggests perhaps that it is going to be a good night for David Lewis and his party. Sylvia Leighton is with me now to offer some analysis of these figures we have just heard.
“As you say, Tony, a very good result there for David Lewis, who from this result – and it goes without saying that this is our first result of the night, so everything can still change in a heartbeat – but on this result the Popular Front look to have captured a considerable swing of about 4 per-cent. Not only does this put the coalition – assuming it survives intact – on course for a majority of over 100 seats, but it suggests that the Popular Front will indeed move ahead of the Labour Unionists as the largest party in the Assembly.”
What might Dick Crossman make of this first result?
“There is no mistaking the fact that the LUPA have come out of this contest the worse for wear – but I must stress that Cheltenham is not a part of the country where they traditionally excel. I don’t think at this point in the evening that Mr Crossman will be too worried one way or the other. The government as a whole still look in a strong position – not inconsiderable after the year they have just had.”
Beyond the government, of course, this news from Cheltenham gives us a first indication of how the new socialist parties might fare tonight. What do you make of their performance here?
“There are of course three parties running together under the banner of the ‘New Left Coalition’: the New Socialist Front, whose lineage extends back to the original Socialist Front formed after the Revolution; the Communist Party of the Commonwealth of Britain, who broke with the CPGB in 1964; and the Communist Workers’ Group, who might be called the political arm of the ‘shop stewards movement’. Together here they have taken 16.5 per-cent of the vote, which is a solid result in an unfavourable part of the country. It’s worth pointing out that turnout is up quite considerably on 1963 – on this evidence perhaps by as much as 10 per-cent – so it seems that the presence of an organised Left Bloc on the ballot paper may have tempted previous non-voters to the polls. This suggests that we might be in for a night of twists and turns, with large numbers of new voters pulling the results in unexpected directions.”
Thank you, Sylvia. We’ll be hearing a lot more from you as the night goes on.
Cheltenham
Popular Front: 24,199 (48.3%)
Labour Unionist: 13,077 (26.1%)
New Socialist Front: 6,162 (12.3%)
Group for Action: 4,659 (9.3%)
CPCB: 2,005 (4.0%)
CWG: 128 (0.2%)
CPGB: 67 (0.0%)
Total: 50,296 (turnout: 75.4%)
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The time has just gone midnight, which seems an opportune moment to check in once again with our master of predictions, Roy Spector. Roy, what can you tell us about the national picture?
“The big story at the moment, Tony, is the prospect of an effective increase to the government’s majority – but with the Popular Front, and not the Labour Unionists, as the largest party. I say ‘effective increase’ because, as we have said many times already tonight, the overall increase in the size of the People’s Assembly means that it is very likely that all parties will return increased seat totals compared to 1963—”
And in fact we have a chart to put this into perspective for tonight’s results, don’t we Roy?
“Yes, that’s right Tony. For the viewers at home, one your screens now you will see the results of the last election – the 1963 election – as if they had been conducted along the same lines as this election:
1963 general election results under the 1967 system
Party: Vote share – Seat total (1963 system) – Seat total (1967 system)
Labour Unionist: 35.8% – 161 seats – 215 seats
Popular Front: 30.6% – 138 seats – 183 seats
Ind. Socialist: 24.3% – 109 seats – 146 seats
Group for Action: 7.1% – 32 seats – 43 seats
CPGB: 2.2% – 10 seats – 13 seats
Turnout: 65.6%
LUPA–PF coalition – majority of 74 (1967 system: majority of 98)
“So, as you can see, had the 1963 election been conducted with 600 seats in play rather than 450, the government would have enjoyed a majority of 98.
“Now, as we heard at the start of the tonight’s programme, the pollsters reckon that the results of this contest will see the government returned with a majority of anything from 65 to 110 seats. This gives quite a large range of possible outcomes, from a 5.5 per-cent swing against the government to a 2 per-cent swing in the government’s favour. But the general consensus seems to be the the government will end the night with what is effectively a slightly reduced majority. Again – not to bang on about it too much, but it is important – I say ‘effectively’ because, whatever happens tonight, all parties will gain seats.
“As we stand currently, the government are on course for a surprise gain in their majority. The results that we have so far point to a final result that sits around the upper bound of our pollsters’ predictions, with a 2 per-cent swing in the government’s favour.
“However, this is not the whole story. If you had asked me an hour ago, Tony, I would have been able to astonish you with the news that the government were on course for a poll-defying landslide victory, with a swing of 3 per-cent in their favour. As I say, we now sit on 2 per-cent, and the trend seems to be that this is decreasing. The explanation for this is quite simple: the results which come to us earlier on in the night tend to be from more rural areas and generally lower-populated parts of the country. For obvious reasons, these tend to be the sorts of places where vote counting will finish the earliest.
“These also tend to be the parts of the country where the coalition parties perform better – in particular the Popular Front, which perhaps explains why it still looks like it might be a bad night for Dick Crossman. But he can take heart, because the Labour Unionists historically fare better in the towns and the cities, whose results we mostly still have to come. As they do come in throughout the night, it is likely that we will continue to see the government’s current lead decrease, and possibly even a restoration of parity between the two coalition parties.”
Are there any signs yet of what sort of effect the new socialist parties are having upon proceedings, Roy?
“It is still a bit too early to say anything meaningful, Tony, but we can begin to draw some predictions from the data we have received so far. For example, what does seem apparent is that the presence of new parties on the ballot paper has contributed to a significant increase in turnout on 1963 – we’re up by about 7 per-cent, which means over 3 million more people at the polls than there were four years ago. This could easily prove decisive come the end of the night.
“We can also say that the socialist vote seems to be holding across the country, picking up a respectable share of the vote even in areas where they would not be expecting to win. This does seem to suggest that the increase in turnout may end up hurting the government.”
Thank you, Roy. We’ll return to you later on when we have a clearer picture of what the final outcome might look like.
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It’s just gone 1 o’clock in the morning on Friday 5 May, and for those of you still up with us on election night we can go to Salford, where the count has just been verified.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have quiet please. Ladies and gentlemen—thank you. As returning officer for the borough of Salford, I can declare that the results cast for each party are as follows: Communist Party of the Commonwealth of Britain – 6,122; Communist Party of Great Britain – 1,728; Communist Workers’ Group – 1,945; Group for Action – 2,881; Labour Unionist – 21,678; New Socialist Front – 17,068; Popular Front – 20,597. The total number of votes cast was 72,019.”
So that was a slim lead of about one thousand for the LUPA over the Popular Front. With Cliff Michelmore now is Barbara Lewis, who is seeking election on the Popular Front’s North Western list – Salford, of course, is in the North West region. Cliff—
“Yes, thank you Tony. I am indeed joined by Barbara Lewis, a leading figure in the Popular Front and lately Director of the Office for Economic Co-ordination. Mrs Lewis, you are seeking re-election to the Assembly on the North Western list tonight. What is the mood like among the Popular Front camp up there?”
“Well, Cliff, we are very pleased generally with the results we have seen come in so far tonight, and it looks like we will be on course to return to government in a very strong position within the coalition.”
“We’ve just heard the results from Salford there, where the Popular Front vote – and indeed the government vote as a whole – is down quite considerably, by about 7.5 per-cent. Does this give you any cause for concern?”
“No, I’m not concerned by the results from Salford. We have held onto our vote share in the face of a spirited challenge from the socialist bloc, and we took a very strong second place that will do a lot of good for our total here in the North West.”
“Looking at the national picture, what has been the target for the Popular Front tonight? Have you been holding out hope for an increased majority for the coalition generally?”
“Taking into account the coalition’s overall record over the last four years, throughout the campaign we have always been confident of returning to government. Of course, as a party we have had our own aims for where we might hope to gain seats, but these are secondary to the primary target, which is to return to government in coalition with our partners in the LUPA.”
“Mrs Lewis, thank you.”
“Thank you, Cliff.”
Salford
Labour Unionist: 21,678 (30.1%)
Popular Front: 20,597 (28.6%)
New Socialist Front: 17,068 (23.7%)
CPCB: 6,122 (8.5%)
Group for Action: 2,881 (4.0%)
CWG: 1,945 (2.7%)
CPGB: 1,728 (2.4%)
Total: 72,019 (turnout: 70.3%)
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The time is quarter-past 2 in the morning and we are joined now from Abergavenny by Michael Foot, a Popular Front candidate on the Welsh list and lately the Chairman of the People’s Assembly. Michael Foot, good morning. Can you hear us alright?
“Good morning, Tony. Yes, thank you – I can hear you perfectly. Good to be with you.”
It’s good of you to appear tonight. Thank you for travelling to Abergavenny to join us.
“My pleasure, Tony.”
Mr Foot, we’ve started to see results coming in from Wales, but it looks like it will be a couple of hours yet before we have the full picture. Tell us, what is the mood in your camp?
“Well, as Barbara was saying earlier it looks like it will be a good night for the party generally. We have had encouraging results so far here in Monmouthshire, and also to the north in Powys and out west in Cardiganshire.”
South Wales has, as we know, been the site of great controversy – and indeed great tragedy – over the previous months. Is there an anticipation that the government’s vote will suffer overall in the region?
“What happened at Aberfan was an unspeakable tragedy, and the anger we saw in the Valleys over the winter was entirely justified, there can be no mistake about that. But shortly before the death of Chairman Bevan, we made good progress towards a real settlement in favour of the workers, and the communities who have been so terribly affected by events here. I think that if the coalition does hold its vote in South Wales tonight, it will be a clear indication that we must press ahead to implement the settlement towards worker autonomy in Wales as fast as possible, and not to back away from this necessary reform.”
There has been some uncertainty from within the Popular Front as to whether David Lewis, if re-elected as chairman, intends to implement the reforms outlined by Chairman Bevan before his death. Are you saying then, Mr Foot, that a good result for your party in Wales should be taken as an endorsement of the government’s prior commitment to reform?
“It is my belief that we owe it to the people of South Wales to get these reforms implemented, irrespective of the results tonight. I have been very clear about that over the past months, and this is a point on which I do diverge slightly from the general opinion of my party. But I do think, looking frankly at the Popular Front’s record in dealing with the consequences of the disaster at Aberfan, and also looking elsewhere at the appearance of the socialist bloc and support for Cymru Rydd, that the mood in Wales is in favour of a settlement that reflects the sacrifice workers and communities here have made over the winter.”
One final question, Mr Foot, seeing as you bring up the socialists and Cymru Rydd – do you anticipate a strong challenge from the new opposition parties tonight?
“I think we will very likely see the newer parties record a good result in Wales, yes – and I welcome this as a positive development for parliamentary democracy in the Commonwealth.”
Michael Foot, thank you.
“Thank you, Tony. Always a pleasure.”
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It’s just gone half-past 3 and I am back with Roy Spector, who believes that it is now possible to begin to see the shape these results are ultimately going to take. What do you make of the data, Roy?
“We’ve now received just over half of the results from up and down the country, and it is looking to be the case that the government can expect a diminished share of the vote compared to four years ago. The government retain quite a commanding lead in the regions and boroughs already declared, but we have now come to the point where we can expect to see results coming in from parts of the country more favourable to the new opposition parties. With this in mind, we have a revised prediction of the final outcome, which will appear on your screens momentarily. This prediction takes into account both results already declared, and what we here in the studio – and, perhaps more importantly, our computers – think is likely to happen over the coming hours.
Prediction at 03:30 – 50% of results declared
Popular Front: 207 seats (34.5%)
Labour Unionist: 183 seats (30.5%)
New Socialist Front: 102 seats (17.0%)
Group for Action: 45 seats (7.5%)
CPCB: 39 seats (6.5%)
CWG: 12 seats (2.0%)
CPGB: 9 seats (1.5%)
Cymru Rydd: 3 seats (0.5%)
Total: 600 seats (100%)
PF–LUPA coalition – majority of 90
“These results would see the governing coalition return to the Assembly with 65 per-cent of the seats, giving a majority of 90, which is a swing against the government of about 1.5 per-cent. Thinking back to the chart I presented earlier showing the 1963 Assembly under the new system, this would equate to an effective loss for the government of about 8 seats.
“It is worth pointing out a couple of things about this prediction. The first thing is that all percentages are given to the nearest half a per-cent, which is about as accurate as our computer can go based on the current sample data. The second point is of course that these figures do not mean that we can call the election already, and we still have plenty of the night left for surprises.”
Thank you, Roy. To reiterate, these are not final figures by any means, but results seem to suggest that the government is on course to lose ground on 1963, with the Popular Front leapfrogging the Labour Unionists into first place.
I’m going to return now to Sylvia Leighton, who has some thoughts about what might be going on underneath these figures. Sylvia—
“Yes, Tony. Looking at how the swings are falling regionally, and indeed nationally as we begin to build up a picture of the whole country, it does look like the key thing has been turnout. We are seeing a large number of younger voters coming out to support the socialist bloc, which has eaten away at support for the LUPA in what would historically be a reliable constituency of theirs.
“At the same time, we are seeing a sharp split emerging between rural areas, where the Popular Front lead, and industrialised urban centres, where the Labour Unionists are holding on more solidly – but also the socialists are seeing their strongest support. What we can perhaps infer from this is that David Lewis’s strategy of hedging his bets on the question of industrial reform has played well in less industrialised parts of the country, but has cost him in areas with a stronger tradition of work organisation.”
Thank you, Sylvia. We will of course continue to update these figures, with fresh comment and analysis, as the night goes on.
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