UK Election Night/Morning/Midday

For analysis of the UK elections I suggest you head over to Churchill’s Cigar, home to the resident Briton.

I’ve been watching the BBC election coverage via the NYT website and have a few thoughts. (Congrats to Caroline Lucas for becoming the first Green Party MP in Westminster.)

Aesthetically, the BBC coverage is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s unsurprising. Europeans have a superior sense of aesthetics, and it shows in just about everything, including the on-air graphics. It’s crisp, clean, and well designed; seriously minimalist, and nothing flashy, though the much-digitized “swingometer” is a little excessive. (Also, I gotta love the digitized version of parliament and the “paving stones” to Number 10.) It’s very refreshing compared to the garish coverage of the broadcast networks and cable news stations here in the States. I would expect nothing less from state run television.

To be fair, I’ve never watched election coverage from any other European country, so perhaps the Dutch, French, or Germans do it better.

Today is the first time I’ve realized the color-code for the UK’s major parties is opposite those in the US. The Conservatives are blue and Labour is red. I suppose red is more apt for a left wing party, but the difference is a little confusing at first.

The results for each constituency are announced publicly by a returning officer. (The votes are paper ballots counted by hand, which I like.) Each party representative, wearing a ribbon with their respective party color, stands patiently while the results are read. I also like this. No gaudy election parties or blasting Tina Turner mega-hits.

Another huge difference is the complete lack of nationalistic iconography, which was also refreshing. The Brits, Scots, Welsh, and Northern Irish are very different than Americans, as they lack a penchant for displaying their national symbols and colors ad nauseam. I’m proud of them.

I also have to love the Monster Raving Loony Party.