Why John Curtice is turning into a hero for election viewers
Everybody’s favourite political scientist was a star of the BBC’s election coverage.
Election nights tend to throw up unlikely heroes – and there can be none more unlikely than John Curtice.
Curtice is a political scientist and professor of politics at Strathclyde University, so not necessarily your typical TV megastar material.
But he’s become a familiar face in the BBC’s election coverage, and he got plenty of screen time as people puzzled over an unexpected exit poll which predicted a hung parliament.
The moment John Curtice drops that exit poll bombshell. #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/5LlgXw12Bd
— Liam Beattie (@Liam_Beattie) June 8, 2017
For some, his appearance was the moment they’d been waiting for.
At last. pic.twitter.com/yWsGkeKwU8
— Is John Curtice OnTV (@JohnCurticeOnTV) June 8, 2017
Remember to leave your cookies & milk out for John Curtice to have a good polling day.
— Anthony Carroll (@the_tweed) June 7, 2017
He's preparing exit polls
He's checking them twice
Not really interested in safe seats like Haltemprice
John Curtice is coming to town pic.twitter.com/e2fmPtyuLy— James Shaddock (@jpshaddock) June 8, 2017
Some tried to make sense of the set-up, with Curtice perched up on a balcony looking down on host David Dimbleby and co below him.
While waiting for results, John Curtice & David Dimbleby decide to act out 'Romeo & Juliet' in the BBC Studio. #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/X6tlMxqnK9
— Michael Gray (@GrayInGlasgow) June 8, 2017
On cue, the BBC camera sweeps majestically up to John Curtice, perched on the balcony like a medieval warlord, surveying the chaos below. pic.twitter.com/wi3xXJuBch
— Jack Murley (@jack_murley) June 8, 2017
I like how BBC have pollster John Curtice declaiming from a high balcony over the studio like the wise ghost of 1970s television
— Warren Ellis (@warrenellis) June 8, 2017
But with an eye on a potential hung parliament, could Curtice become even more high profile in the near future?
For the benefit of the international community, this is Britain's most likely Martial Law Administrator in the event of regime collapse. pic.twitter.com/tan4GMN1AX
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) June 8, 2017