Grace Wyndham Goldie

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Many stars of television graced the studios at Ally Pally but it was a formidable producer, Grace Wyndham Goldie, who left one of the biggest impressions on how we engage with the political process.

Scenes of election counts and declarations have become the norm on election nights in Britain but it wasn’t always the case and you have Grace to thank for that. During the 1950 General Election, the first that could be covered by television, Grace persuaded the BBC to transmit an election night programme to report the results. A pioneering moment in British TV history and a profound change in how the country carried out its elections.

She later remarked: “One has an idea in one’s bath and within two weeks it is a national institution.”

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