The BBC and the Norwich North by-election

The BBC Today programme's coverage (or what I have heard of it) this morning has been most odd. It seems that the BBC's Norman Smith believes that senior Conservatives view the poll as a "must-win" and that "anything less would be a significant reverse that could bring the Cameron juggernaut to a shuddering halt".

Oddly I don't remember such qualifications being placed on a Labour win a Conservative seat during the long run of seats won by Labour during the period 1986 to 1997. Then the emphasis was place on the Conservatives unpopularity and the Labour party gaining seats.

Let's take a look at the Langbaurgh by-election of 1991. Then the Conservatives lost their seat by 1,975 votes. The Conservative vote diminished by 2.6% and Labour's increased by 4.5%, the swing was 9.1%. Maybe someone at the BBC could show me how this was reported at the time as an unimpressive swing to Labour, not enough to guarantee a general election victory and a disappointment to Labour. Maybe this BBC person could also show where the by-election was described a "must-win" for Labour.


The BBC are institutionally biased against the Conservative party and without fairness and impartiality they have, in my opinion, forfeited their right to state funding via the licence fee. The time for words has passed, the time for action is now.