In the basement of a huge London office block the clocks are set to 9.30pm: we have half an hour to go. Professor Colin Rallings takes a seat at a large white table in the centre of a vast room painted all in green, as I and a small group of colleagues gather around. The excitement is palpable as ITV’s elections expert Rallings holds up a piece of paper and starts reading out the results of the exit poll. Upstairs, shrouded in secrecy with blanked-out windows, the all-important seat projection numbers are being carefully punched into graphics, spreadsheets heavy with data are uploaded, dozens of colleagues input the numbers – all part of the massive simulation that is the rehearsal for Thursday’s ITV News overnight election programme. My job is to work with my producer, Lili, and head of graphics technology, Ian, to use our powerful data tools to group constituencies, create narratives and present it all on a huge green screen. In just four days, we will be doing that for real but alongside star guests including Nicola Sturgeon, Ed Balls and George Osborne, on a night of potentially momentous politics. On Thursday itself, a team of experts including political scientist Chris Prosser and Colin, both representing ITV, will spend the day holed up in a secret location in central London poring over data with colleagues from the BBC and Sky News. For the first time, Lili and I will be able to be part of this extraordinary event, being briefed on the detail behind the numbers so we can prepare to tell the story before it unfolds through the night. Together with Colin, we will jump into a cab and race back to ITV’s election studio in time for the start of our programme at 9.50pm. Rehearsing for election night is a very different experience to the earlier periods of this occasionally mind-blowing election campaign. Take Tuesday 28 May, when my colleague Iona and I found ourselves running across the bridge that spans the busy road outside Stevenage train station desperately looking for somewhere to do a “live” on ITV’s Evening News.
We had just left a local business where Keir Starmer was carrying out a Q&A. As camera operator Daniel quickly unfolded his tripod, I noticed a news story drop in the Times by the well-connected journalist Patrick Maguire. “Diane Abbott to be banned from standing for Labour,” it read, about Britain’s first black female MP who had been suspended from the party amid claims of antisemitism. I was surprised as I’d been told a deal was imminent under which Abbott (who had completed a course on antisemitism) would be allowed to re-enter the party and then retire on her own terms. As I shoved a microphone under my top and pushed an earpiece into my ear, I rang Labour contacts to ask where the story had come from and if it was true. “I have to go on air in 10 minutes,” I shouted after I was told “no comment”. But then a newsline. “Diane was given the whip back earlier today,” messaged a source. I did my live hit just after 6.30pm, and then a few minutes later, another story in a different direction, giving that feeling of campaign whiplash. Labour’s deputy Angela Rayner had been cleared of all wrongdoing by the police, we were told. Given everything that has come since in this campaign – from Nigel Farage’s entry into the race, to a huge row over tax, Rishi Sunak’s D-day disappearance and a gambling scandal – you may have forgotten how Abbott and Rayner had dominated week one. At that point I was reporting from Labour’s battle bus, trailing Starmer around the country to schools, football clubs and town halls. Then, back on to the bus, where I would remember to do up my seatbelt before attempting lunchtime “lives” on the move, if the phone connection held up. In that first week, I was offered the first television interview with Rayner. How did she feel about Abbott? Sitting in the lobby of the Unison building on Euston Road, Labour’s deputy leader leant forward and said she thought Abbott was “iconic” and saw no reason why she couldn’t stand. The story had fresh legs. The next week, a very different challenge. I was asked to host a programme to run after my colleague Julie Etchingham led ITV’s head to head debate between Starmer and Sunak. My job was to interview leaders from the Lib Dems, SNP, Reform and Green party, a role that took days of preparation as we examined the parties’ policies and discussed how to hold them to account. Last week, I decided to break away from the official tours to visit parts of Birmingham where Starmer is unlikely to stop, where anger about his early comments on Gaza (and more recently Bangladesh) have hit trust among Muslim voters. I’ve now reported on six general elections including for the Observer, Sky News, the Guardian, and now ITV News. Covering an election for a public service broadcaster demands absolute neutrality – and not being swayed by the over-dominance of polls. We’re certainty not letting them limit our rehearsals; our team have all seen plenty of surprise results and know that we must be ready – whatever happens.