The BBC had a woeful election night. In place of crisp authority, there was an air of incoherence and listlessness.

By giving viewers endless talking heads, it missed most of the extraordinary drama that unfolded miles away from the studio.

With all its resources and experience, the Corporation should have set the gold standard for election coverage.

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The BBC had a woeful election night. In place of crisp authority, there was an air of incoherence and listlessness and it missed most of the extraordinary drama of the evening, writes LEO MCKINSTRY

But perhaps its Left-leaning producers were so shaken by the 10pm exit poll which pointed to a large Tory victory that they were unable to deal with the issues raised.

Nothing highlighted the BBC’s ineptitude more clearly than the decision to give lengthy airtime to that embittered windbag and serial loser Neil Kinnock, whose ramblings were even more disjointed than usual.

At first, Kinnock disputed the official exit poll.

Then, more absurdly, he argued that, if the poll was accurate, voters were guilty of ‘self-delusion’.

And — in the face of an avalanche of positive economic data — he added for good measure that the Tories had destroyed the economy.

This offensive nonsense — which insulted the electorate — was allowed to go virtually unchallenged by David Dimbleby.

No Tory grandee would have been able to get away with such rancid drivel.

But that encapsulates the BBC’s attitude.

It is interesting to note that one of the Corporation’s key executives is James Purnell, a former Labour Cabinet minister.

With all its resources and experience, the Corporation should have set the gold standard for election coverage. Perhaps Left-leaning producers were so shaken by the 10pm exit poll they were unable to deal with anything

Typically, that duplicitous old bully, dodgy dossier compiler and Labour zealot Alastair Campbell was given a front-row seat to spout his partisan views, one of which was the patently false claim that the Tory campaign had ended in failure.

Similarly, viewers caught a glimpse of the incestuous political bubble that operates at Westminster, as correspondents Nick Robinson and Laura Kuenssberg rhapsodised about the wonderful personal qualities of Ed Balls — in reality another bully and social-engineering zealot — after he had lost his seat.

Throughout proceedings Dimbleby, once so sharp, exuded a languid pomposity. Although he began by saying: ‘Results, results, results – that’s what this programme is about,’ this proved to be untrue.

For throughout the rest of its night’s coverage, the BBC — gripped by analysis paralysis — kept missing the exciting big stories, such as Labour’s failure to capture their No 1 target, Warwickshire North.

Throughout the coverage presenter David Dimbleby (pictured) once so sharp, exuded a languid pomposity

As the results filtered through, and the scale of the Tory victory became clear, the BBC seemed to go into official mourning over the phenomenal losses suffered by Labour and the Lib Dems.

It was as if the Corporation, in its despair over the collapse of the Left, believed the whole nation shared its anguish.

Nothing could have been further from the truth, and once more the BBC missed the real story — the remarkable, historic triumph of conservatism.

This abrogation of its responsibility as a public broadcaster will, inevitably, have an effect on its future, as the BBC’s licence fee comes under increasing scrutiny.