Things Could Only Get Better: Mildert Memories of the 1997 General Election

A long-standing Conservative government beset with scandal, challenged by a resurgent Labour Party led by a centrist leader. But it’s not 2024. It’s 1997, I’m a student at Mildert and things could only get better…

1997 was the most culturally and historically important year in the decade, the summer bookended by this seismic general election and the death of Princess Diana.

A 1st May election did not work well for students, as it fell bang in the revision period. The JCR and DSU ran poster campaigns and held meetings (social media was still a decade away), encouraging students to register to vote either at home or in Durham, according to where their votes would count the most.

On polling day, the anticipation in college was huge, fueled by the 6 week campaign
and a palpable sense of change. To get as many students as possible voting, the JCR hired a mini bus and ran a regular service to the polling station at Neville’s Cross. The then JCR President, Ben Tomlinsson (known as Cheesy) was the driver for the day, and was acting out every ‘On The Buses’ catchphrase and 1980s coach driver trope to entertain passengers on the short hop to vote.

The rest of the day was focused on revision for my finals. However, at dinner time the mood in college started to change. The conversation was ‘Are you going to watch it all tonight?’ and ‘Do you think it will be a landslide?’. After a few more hours of work, we congregated in the bar from 9pm.

In those days TVs weren’t in every room, and most people relied on the large screen in the JCR for most major events such as England games, comedy shows and news. At 10pm, the polls closed and a large group congregated in the JCR to watch the exit poll on the BBC. There was shock and celebration when the exit polls revealed a swing of over 10% and a forecasted Labour landslide. Most people retired to the bar to wait for the real results to be declared.

As more and more beer was consumed, more and more people said they would stay up all night. It felt like an unmissable moment. As last orders were being called at the bar, the first result came in from Sunderland. Jonty Alone, Mildert’s uber-political DSU Rep, ran into the bar shouting “It’s a 13% swing. It’s gonna be a wipeout”. This was the most excited I’d seen Jonty since he photocopied Paul Phillips’ notes from a year of skipped lectures and scraped a 2:2.

Corridor watch parties were hastily organised. In those days people would sit out in the corridor surrounding a TV, like an old folks home watching Antiques Roadshow on a Sunday evening. My corridor had a decent TV that was rolled out and placed against the wall as seats and beanbags fanned out in a semi-circle around it.

People moved to and fro through the night, but as the Tories kept tumbling the sense of shock was immense. My personal favourite was still being up for Portillo at 3am, his smug face was a sight for very tired eyes. There were also other surreal moments that evening, such as Tom Hunt watching his father lose his job live on TV. Tom didn’t seem too bothered so neither were we, and his dad soon ended up in the Lords anyway.

The next morning was exciting. It genuinely felt like there was change in the air, both in Durham and across the country. Whether or not the Blair and Brown governments delivered on this hope is a matter of opinion, but the whole evening still rides high in my Mildert memories. It’s a shame the students this year will be unable to watch in college due to the election being called in the summer holidays.