What do you remember about what you were doing at previous election times?

So am I the only person who remembers tortoises maggie and jim on Blue Peter in 1979?

My earliest memories of election day......it was very colourful, there were posters on every lampost, several vans went round the street with a loudspeaker on top encouraging the floating voters.
We got the day off school, and spent hours whizzing round on bikes collecting stickers, pencil and round plastic things emblazzoned with the party (any) name which we stuck between the spokes on our bikes. It must have been 1979 but I have no recollection who won just that the SNP had the best freebies.
I took my own children with me to vote this morning and there was NOTHING!! just one old man wearing a lib dem badge......

For 97 I was on the Press Association's city desk overnight, watching just in case anything market-worthy happened and in case they needed an extra pair of hands.

The atmosphere was absolutely electric, one of the best moments of my working life.

When we finally emerged at 8am into the glorious sunshine it really did feel like a new era had begun. Shame how it all turned out eh?

Dh was following the Blair campaign for one of the main tv news orgs so was with him in Sedgefield as the results came through.

I am loving the symbolism of being able to remember what I had for tea but not his name - I thought it sounded wrong!!

And yes it was lovely thank you. I think we may have even had parmesan on top - the extravagance!

1974: forced child labour for the libdems. Lots of leafletting and envelope stuffing. Also lots of confusing news footage of Jeremy Thorpe having done Unmentionable Things.

1979. more forced child labour for the libdem cause.

1980. child uprising against the forced labour.

1981. everyone else in tory Oxford was happy. the whole world seemed to be tory.

Same as most people on the 92 and 97 - everyone in Manchester utterly depressed in 92 and euphoric in 97, we used to watch it unfolding on a huge screen outside the town hall.

92 - hoping Labour would win and being very very upset they didn't. I watched it with my best friend, he went to bed and didn't get up for three days.

97 - sat up all night cheering and watching Michael Portillo lost his seat. Was a bright and happy day.

Don't really remember the ones in between those and this one.

Am voting conservative this time though. I have changed, the country has changed and the parties have changed.

Was in California, listening to an LA radio station around noon, carrying "The World" from BBC + PRI + WGBH (Boston) with Eddie Mair telling Scottish and Welsh jokes (devolution votes were on back home).

Away in California visiting different friends in San Diego, for the one before that, too.

Sadly, not been away in past 10 years.

Seth,
I remember lying in bed with DH weeping after Neil Kinnock blew it with that bloody rally.
Then Blair got in and DH and I got drunk with general jolliness.

Quite sad this year. Have voted labour every year since 1979 and i can't vote for this bunch of useless tossers anymore.

I intend to just get drunk as there is no good outcome to be had.

'97 on holiday with twat ex bf who was very concerned the whole holiday that TB had got in and something about bank of england controlling exchange rate/inflation of something!

early 1980's i was in west mid hospital waiting to have stitches in my chin. spent the whole blimming night waiting with my dad ignoring me glued to the TV screen in casualty!

early 1980's i was in west mid hospital waiting to have stitches in my chin. spent the whole blimming night waiting with my dad ignoring me glued to the TV screen in casualty!

DS1 was a few months old. I remember strolling through the park after work with DS in his pram to vote. 1997. Can't remember the last time.

I remember being in my drama class the day of the 1997 election!

We started our own countries in different corners of the room and had to 'rule' them and try and convince people 'living' in the other countries to move to ours. Went on for weeks.

Taught by one of the best teachers I can remember

1979 - I was a big Blue Peter fan and I remember they had tortoises named Maggie (Thatcher) and Jim (Callaghan)

1987 - supposed to be revising for O levels and distracted by the election.

1992 - missed the election as living in France. Could not believe that John Major won.

In 1997 we were on our honeymoon in Spain

I was glued to Sky TV, as this was the only channel we could get any UK coverage on.

DH always jokes 'there were 3 people on our honeymoon - me, Norma & Adam Boulton

1979 - was my birthday, school was shut as polling station. Made up this fine poem: "3rd of May, My birthday, And Election Day". I was 7.

Thatcher resignation - in my 1st year uni, doing drama with lots of very left wing people very very jubilant. I'm just thinking "yes, but who's DRIVING THE COUNTRY???? Are we going to crash?"

1997 - Stayed up late on my own in flat shared with then boyfriend (Where was he??? Suspect out with new girlfriend...) I had a gram of coke I was splitting into two for 2 parties coming up*. Never quite got the 2 halves even so had to do rather a lot of "tidying up" which was nice. But odd. All by myself with Portillo etc...

*worked in meedja but was poor!

1979 - very impressed to have a woman PM.

1992 - SNP (lived in Scotland)

1997 - Labour - oh the mood of joy - how naive we were.

2001 - can't remember but I think labour

2005 - Can't remember who I voted for but I remember it being the first election when I took my children with me to the polling station, being cross DH was away on business and lost his vote and being in a mini-cab with a very jolly Afghan driver who said he couldn't vote because the Government would find him and he wasn't supposed to be here. Maybe Nick Clegg can find him.

1997 my first vote & I felt so powerful. Stayed up all night and watched the red sweep over the country.

Stayed up for the next two but can't remember much. Not going to manage tonight

1979 -only person at uni to vote Tory (well I didn't shout about it)

Does anyone remember Cyril Smith- the huge Liberal MP?

1979 - had the day off school, mum explained democracy to me, and we went to the park and had a Mini Milk. (I was 5)

No recollection of any elections between then and 1992, though I do remember Thatcher resigning.

1992 - voted Labour in an incredibly safe Tory seat, went to the pub with mates and got drunk, woke up the next morning and was pretty depressed.

1997 - wasn't that exciting? We had a huge party, by the end of which (at 3am) my very drunk mate was at the Town Hall trying to persuade the returning officer to let him change his vote (he'd voted Conservative and felt the weight of public opinion was not on his side). And the next day was glorious, and everyone at work was smiling and no-one did any work.

2001 - I have absolutely no memory of this at all. Which is a bit strange. Assume I voted Labour, but who knows?

2005 - I voted Labour with a heavy heart, as couldn't really see who else to vote for, went to bed early (3 month old dd) and things carried on as normal.

I still have absolutely no idea who to vote for tomorrow. Which is strange, as I am usually fairly decisive.

1979 - was the same age DD is now and definitely more interested than she is! Remember mock elections at school and of course everyone talking about the first woman PM

1987 - was gutted that I was only just too young to vote, esp as living in a very marginal seat that went from Tory to Labour and most of my friends claimed responsibility for that!

1997 - had flu so got to watch it all on tv instead of being at work - downside was I couldn't actually vote!

The ones in between I barely remember

Love the Norman Major comment - just goes to show how memorable he was! Cool for remembering you had spag bol .

1979 - was 9 - remember being excited about having a woman PM and my Mum explaining that it wasn't really that good . . .

Don't have any real memories of 1983 or 1987.

1992 - being by the town hall in Cambridge, and general depression - going into work next day and everyone being totally miserable (then buggering off to the pub early to drown our sorrows)

1997 - at a friends house - totally overwhelming the scale of it all (and yes, we were still up for Portillo)

2001 - out of the country
2005 - didn't feel like there was going to be any real change