I had met foreign journalists before, but this time was different. Different because we were so different. I think it's great that British Council managed to bring together so many journalists from so many diverse countries.
Magda Barascu, Romania
The election monitoring project was absolutely a winner. I have enjoyed the rare privilege of working as a journalist “embedded” in an MP’s campaign team in the UK. It does not happen everyday.
Simon Kolawole, THISDAY Newspaper, Nigeria
Journalists from around the world witness the UK General Election
Prominent young journalists from all over the world travelled to the UK to report on the 2005 British General Election in May. They shadowed parliamentary candidates and reported on their experiences in the media in their home country.
More than 30 journalists from 26 countries including Iraq, Sudan, China, Palestine, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Afghanistan followed the final week of the General Election campaign and reported on their experiences to audiences in their home countries. The journalists participating represented well known international media, including People’s Daily (China), El Pais (Spain), Lao Dong (Vietnam) and Al-Quds (Palestine). Coverage world wide was extensive and Channel 4 ran a feature on three of the participants on the main evening news programme.
The programme opened with a seminar to brief participating journalists on the UK electoral system. Hosted by our Chair, the Rt Hon Lord Kinnock, the seminar gave an overview of subjects ranging from the parliamentary process, to the different political parties and election history. Sir Robert Worcester, Chairman of MORI gave his expert opinion on UK polling and Rt Hon the Baroness Amos, Leader of the House of Lords, Peter Bottomley MP and David Hughes took part in a stimulating political debate.
The journalists then travelled to one of the 645 constituencies in the UK and spent five days shadowing a parliamentary candidates. The candidates were from a range of political parties and constituencies covering the length and breadth of the UK, from Central London to Orkney!. Among the candidates were Harriet Harman, David Lammy, Glenda Jackson, David Willets, Tony Brake, Angus Robertson and Elfyn Llwyd.
The journalists observed and reported on the key issues of concern for voters and politicians in the constituency they are shadowing before returning to London to watch the results as they came in. With the aim of increasing knowledge overseas of British elections and of the democratic process, the project provided a different and fresh insight into the campaign.
The next phase of the project from 22-24 June 2005 brought the journalists to Brussels for a two-day ‘de-briefing’ with MPs, politicians, and Brussels-based journalists to discuss and analyse the overall election campaign, the results, the UK’s role in Europe and the world and what the key issues are likely to be for the next parliamentary term and the UK’s forthcoming Presidency of the EU.
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