GENERAL ELECTION: ELECTION DATE ANNOUNCED:

GENERAL ELECTION: ELECTION DATE ANNOUNCED:; ITN ???: SEQ Man sitting in chair in messy living room flicking through television channels on remote control (impersonating slobbish couch potato TV character Jim Royle from 'The Royle Family' & overlaid with theme music from programme) (22 secs) London: Professor Patrick Dunleavy (London School of Economics) interviewed SOT - For a liberal democracy to have a large decrease in turnout is one of the most serious warning signals it could possibly get - it is a warning signal to the political elite that distrust of government is becoming a major influence on political behaviour SEQ Man sitting in chair in messy living room drinking beer and watching political coverage (impersonating slobbish couch potato TV character Jim Royle from 'The Royle Family' & overlaid with theme music from programme) (18 secs) Barry Cox (Television Executive) interviewed SOT - It's a healthy society that can make politics of secondary importance - if you live in a society where politics is paramount you are unlucky because something must be wrong for it to be as important as that Professor Eric Hobsbawm (Birbeck College, London) interviewed SOT - I think that's really one of the many pieces of waffle that takes the place of political discussion nowadays