Academic to provide expert analysis for BBC on General Election results

A Leicester academic will be providing expert analysis and commentary during BBC Radio Leicester’s all-night broadcast for the 2017 General Election results on Thursday (8 June).

Tor Clark, the University’s recently appointed Associate Professor in Journalism within the School of Media, Communication and Sociology, has worked with BBC Leicester on its last four major election results programmes, including the last two general elections.

A political journalist and former editor of the Harborough Mail and the Rutland & Stamford Mercury newspapers, Tor will be based in the station’s city centre studios along with election coverage anchor presenter Ben Jackson, and the station’s political reporter Tim Parker from 10pm on Thursday until 6am on Friday morning.

BBC Leicester’s journalists will report live from all the election counts across Leicestershire and Rutland through the night while Tor and the team in the studio will keep listeners updated on all aspects of the national, regional and local results.

It will be the seventh general election Tor has covered in a career dating back to the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister.

Tor said: “As a political journalist, elections are the most exciting aspect of the job – the one time when big changes happen, so it’s great to be involved once again in BBC Radio Leicester’s excellent coverage.

“This will be the third general election we have all worked on together and we work really well as a team now, so despite the long, sleepless hours, it’s very exciting and a lot of fun. I think that comes through in the broadcast and hopefully it offers an excellent service to Leicestershire listeners wanting to know what’s happening both locally and nationally.”

Tor joined the University of Leicester earlier this month (June) from De Montfort University on the other side of the city, where he had been Principal Lecturer in Journalism for 12 years.