- ‘It’ll be alright on the night’ (Copyright ITV) - 27th April 2026
- Boweled over - 23rd April 2026
- Opposites attract - 22nd April 2026
During 23 years with the BBC, and a 42 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, has presented many political programmes, so knows better than most how there are innumerable mistakes on election nights (one of which is now approaching), that are kept largely secret, and only sometimes reported.
People appear to the audience member as though they know what they’re doing, but in fact often they don’t.
There are sometimes even more mistakes than usual on the night of an election, because staff are working through the night, so they are tired, and the technology is untested (except in rehearsals).
On one occasion on BBC Cymru Wales (BBC CW), I remember presenting a graphics representation of the results as they came in.
However these graphics had not been thoroughly tested, and didn’t work properly.
I then said live on air as I looked at this giant screen: “Plaid Cymru have just made a gain in Pontefract! (Quieter) That can’t be right…”
This incident WAS in fact reported, and made it into The Independent’s 10 best mistakes of the night!
On the programme which follows a count you are joined by a succession of punters – experts, and winning or losing political figures.
I am terrible with names anyway, so I found it extremely hard to remember who the person was, even after the moniker was shouted in my ear piece by the producer.
I hold my hands up to this, and admit that I am actually not very good on live television, because there is so much going on and it is hard to concentrate.
Hosting a live TV programme entails a special skill which I don’t have, and I salute the presenters involved.
I like to think I was all right on live radio, because the audience couldn’t see the person presenting the programme when he was in trouble.
This time I FORGOT who the interviewee was, so I had to get her to introduce herself live on air.
I pretended this was for the audience’s benefit, but in fact it was for MINE because I DIDN’T KNOW WHO SHE WAS!
Another absurdly funny incident which you never heard about (although it wasn’t exactly a mistake, and actually happened BEFORE an election, although it is worth including), happened because we were trying to pretend we were down with the kids using modern technology.
I was interviewing Alun Michael (then First Secretary as it was known at the time) online, with the questions sent in by viewers digitally.
Obviously this was going out UK wide, and a friend of mine in Oxford sent one in saying: “What does Mr Michael think of making Monmouth (my hometown) the capital of Wales?” Ha! Ha!
So remember as you sit at home watching on television, or listening to your radio, while the results come in on May 7/8 and are interpreted, the presenter MAY NOT KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING!
The memories of Phil’s decades-long award-winning career in journalism (including some of the hilarious incidents he was involved with) as he was gripped by the rare disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now!
Soon – we look at how this may be the last election fought under the old rules, as AI changes everything.
Tomorrow – it’s emerged that the great majority of the 1,300 amendments in the House of Lords (HoL) to a failing assisted dying bill, have been put down by just SEVEN peers who oppose the move in principle, including a Welsh doctor, and now there is talk of constitutional change to allow it to pass.
