Newsnight, 2 May 1997

Newsnight, presented by Kirsty Wark on the evening after the 1997 general election mops up the immediate aftermath. Peter Snow has the election results, then there's a word on the new Cabinet appointments and the problems of governing with a 179 seat majority.
A much younger looking Evan Davis talks about Gordon Brown's reception at the Treasury. John Prescott gives an interview about the new government. Then Mark Mardell reports on what the Conservatives are going to do; Kirsty Wark interviews Stephen Dorrell. Peter Marshall reports from Grimethorpe on how an 'old Labour' area is reacting.
At the end is a report on the new faces of the new Parliament. New MPs Angela Smith, Andrew Lansley and Lembit Opik discuss.

[@JasonC1782]

I'm sure I've heard of the gentleman who appears at 5:28 but I can't quite think where.

[@alex-xz2dm]

db d the tory ads in 1999

[@jacklewis3803]

He puts out all election videos on yt, search him.

[@hinson92]

@@jacklewis3803 this video is his

[@kennyryan625]

@@jacklewis3803 🤦🏻 SMH

[@rogerswift1983]

and it all ended in tears

[@davidgormley7990]

It always does.

[@pipoo1]

It really didn't. Looking back having had exactly 13 years of Labour Government and 13 of Tory, the Labour years were without a doubt the best. We were a much better country then than now. We were a lot better off economically too.

[@joecurran2811]

Labour have just got nearly the same majority with a 1.7% increase and barely a third of the vote

[@alanberkeley7282]

It's hard to see Labour doing this again if not impossible. The electorate is much more fragmented today than then

[@Gizo02]

Labour getting into power again (who knows when that will be) with a thin majority, or no majority at all through a coalition of confidence and supply deal, might be a good thing, as it might help accelerate the case for electoral reform and PR (not like that ridiculous referendum in 2011 without a form of PR on the ballot paper).
If smaller parties help prop up a Labour government and get their queen's speech through, they should insist on a move towards PR in return.

[@michaelswan8357]

Labour are now at least 20 points ahead in opinion polls (which would give them a 170 plus win)

[@pipoo1]

Here we are in 2023 and Labour are polling in 1997 sized territory and the anti Tory tactical voting is again a dominating tendancy among the electorate.

[@jamiesmith3396]

I wouldn’t be so sure about that

[@attackpatterndelta8949]

Any Mandalorian fans noticed Peter Snow opened with “This is the way”?

[@callumclark4021]

Who’s that at 02:41??

[@johnking5174]

Someone in the Newsnight gallery having a joke

[@thejoin4687]

It's Jack Straw, as imagined by David Blunkett

[@hannahmcgahan8920]

a young Evan Davis 😍😍😍

[@anonUK]

What does your guide dog think?

[@MultiVince95]

Friday 2nd May 1997

[@markstea69]

Andrew Lansley forward 13 years and he draws up his NHS plan which Boris will rip up 😂😂😂

[@alanberkeley7282]

I can't see Labour ever doing this again!

[@BlyatimirPootin]

Mores the pity

[@melgrant7404]

They will get in I'm sure 2024.

[@jackdubz4247]

No sign of the Tories in Scotland... Waiting for the day when that will be the case once again.

[@luisinhocuenta9496]

it may happen faster than you expect

[@AceofDlamonds]

I can't think of the 1990s UK without thinking of the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

[@petergreen2552]

Happier times. That'll never happen again.

[@kennyryan625]

Never again let’s hope 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 The last time Labour ever won power. A quarter of a century ago.

[@BlyatimirPootin]

@@kennyryan625 yes because things are great now aren't they. Hilarious that gammons fantasise about a one party state yet think they fought the fascists in ww2

[@kennyryan625]

@@BlyatimirPootin Whenever Labour are kept out of office it’s a great thing 😁 They’ll never govern again, thankfully

[@BlyatimirPootin]

@@kennyryan625 ok bootlicker

[@melgrant7404]

Could happen again.

[@PeterRIGBY08]

Hey, it says video not available

[@DBIVUK]

It has copyrighted music on it (Deep Blue Day by Brian Eno from 2:54) so "Your video can't be played on some devices. This can include mobile phones, video game consoles or set-top boxes."

[@johnking5174]

@@DBIVUK Do you know what the Newsnight production team were playing at 2:40 - as pointed out, who was this person's photo?

[@DBIVUK]

@@johnking5174 I'm assuming it was a test image which was accidentally broadcast - someone just put their BBC pass into the scanner to provide an image before they knew who would be in the cabinet. Don't know if someone can confirm this was what BBC passes looked like at the time.

[@chrish12345]

back in the days when you could vote for lawmakers, nothing changed with Blair in coal - he was dictated to by the EU that the UK was NOT to continue digging coal

[@finnersmcspeed5646]

Nobody wants bloody coal

[@chrish12345]

@@finnersmcspeed5646 Do you want to be told what to do by unelected members of a private corporation, or be able to vote-in people that you can then vote-out - this is the issue!

[@BlyatimirPootin]

Lol ok

[@jackdubz4247]

@@chrish12345 If you don't want that, then don't vote Tory.

[@joecurran2811]

​@@finnersmcspeed5646This was in 1997 and the person is STILL crying about coal?