Election replay 1970

Eyes right: The Conservatives scored a win in spite of extremist views

BBC Parliament pays tribute to former Conservative leader Edward Heath by re-showing the general election that returned him as prime minister.

The channel will broadcast four hours of highlights from the results programme showing the shock Conservative victory of June 1970.

For the first time 18-year-olds took to the ballot box in a national vote and the use of broadcast media was more sophisticated than ever before.

Press conferences were specially angled towards television and radio and promoted a new accent on the party leaders rather than the parties themselves.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson played up the image of the family man - accompanied by his wife on the campaign trail - against Opposition Leader Ted Heath's status as a confirmed bachelor.

Mr Wilson's pipe-smoking, avuncular persona did capture public sympathies, but the Labour Party's six year term in government had a more chequered record.

The battleground

The economy was then - as now - a major stumbling block to Labour's success. After the devaluation of the pound in 1967, Wilson's Government was further tarnished by another failed attempt to enter the European Economic Community.

And just three days before the British people went to the polls - on 18 June - trade figures showed a £31million deficit.

The Labour Government had also been shedding support in local elections and opinion polls, not least because of their backing for America's increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam.

Yet it still seemed likely the incumbant government would hold sway.

Ted Heath was not personally popular and was frequently embarrassed by the racist outbursts of the then Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West, Enoch Powell.

And the Liberal Democrats were never a real threat as they tried to break in their flambuoyant new leader Jeremy Thorpe.

Tune into BBC Parliament to see the drama of election night '70 unfold.

The BBC's coverage of the fateful poll included interviews with all the party leaders, analysis from the old guard of political commentary and public reaction in Trafalgar Square.

Join Cliff Michelmore, Robin Day, David Dimbleby and other youthful politicos from 1900 BST to 2300 BST on Tuesday 18 July on BBC Parliament.