Other than the news and Party Election Broadcasts, BBC television's only coverage of the 1959 election campaign were two nights of televised hustings meetings. There were five regional meetings on each night, broadcast live from 6.45 PM to 7.25 PM. Here we see the second of the London meetings, from 1 October 1959 (the first was two days before). Derek Hart is the chairman, with the panel consisting of John Baker (Liberal candidate for Richmond-upon-Thames), Ian Mikardo (Labour MP for Reading 1945-59), and Harold Watkinson (Conservative MP for Woking since 1945 and Minister of Transport).
The format is very similar to 'Question Time' (which would not begin for another 20 years) with the questions unknown to the panellists, an audience which is politically balanced, and panellists trying to rile each other. It is the audience's keenness to react and heckle which brings the programme alive - something which was routine at non-televised public meetings during elections in this period. It's clear at the end that the programme slightly over-ran.
Негізгі бет Never had it so good: BBC Hustings
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