Election is a TV series won by Quincy Washington, presented by

Angellica Bell Angellica Bell (born 24 March 1976) is a British television and radio presenter, best known for her presenting on CBBC between 2000 and 2006. She is also known for providing occasional cover on ''The One Show'' and for co-presenting ''The M ...

and judged by

Jonathan Dimbleby Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby. ...

. It first aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

Format

Election challenges ten contestants to take part in political challenges in two teams (Purple and Green) – similar to The Apprentice. Each week a celebrity guest mentors both teams and examines them in a skills test, where the winning team will gain an advantage for the main challenge. The winning team will go on a treat and the losing team face Jonathan Dimbleby where one will be told "Your Campaign is Over", where one will be evicted. The ten-part series culminates in the last two contestants (Hazel and Quincy) battling out at Parliament. In the end Quincy Washington from Buckinghamshire wins a personal meeting with Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

. The TV series won a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

for Entertainment.

Episodes

Auditions

In this first episode, 16 hopefuls enter Leadership Camp to be tested on their skills of decision making, teamwork and persuasiveness. Only ten will make it through to live in the Leadership House.

Making an Impression

Both teams are tested on their Unique Selling Points by first-ever female winner of

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

Michelle Dewberry Michelle Louise Faye Dewberry (born 9 October 1979) is a British businesswoman, politician, presenter, and media personality. Dewberry won the second series of British television programme ''The Apprentice''. Early life Dewberry was born a ...

. The boys team (Purple) and the girls team (Green) have to host a launch party on an important cause. The green team has to bring awareness to chewing gum and the purple team has to bring awareness to the vast amount of dog poo.

Recruiting People

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet a ...

mentors the contestants about recruiting people to a cause. Both teams have to persuade people in

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

to buy fruit in order to win an advantage for the main challenge. Both teams have to persuade IT office workers to dance. The green team persuade workers to dance the

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

; the purple team persuade workers to dance the

hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of t ...

Public Speaking

Memory champion,

Dominic O'Brien Dominic O'Brien (10 August 1957) is a British mnemonist and an author of memory-related books. He is the eight time World Memory Champion and works as a trainer for Peak Performance Training. He began developing his mnemonic techniques in 1987 ...

mentors the new mixed teams on their memory. Both teams have to perform a professional, inventive and factual tour on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

Diplomacy

The remaining seven candidates are taken to a posh restaurant in London where they have to learn the finest etiquette and manners from

Ladette to Lady ''Ladette to Lady'' is a reality-based series that aired in the United Kingdom on ITV between June 2005 and August 2010. Overview The second series of ''Ladette to Lady'' was aired in the United Kingdom in October 2006 on ITV. The show had vi ...

judge Elizabeth Brewer. One person from each team has to learn the culture, language and traditions of four countries where they have to formally discuss the culture of each country with ambassadors.

Debating

The remaining 6 candidates are put in the hot seat by

Ann Widdecombe Ann Noreen Widdecombe (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician, author and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald, and the former Maidstone constituency, from 1987 to 2010 and Member of the E ...

on embarrassing questions provided by their parents. The candidates have to debate about mosquito alarms on the popular BBC NEWS show Newsnight, presented by

Emily Maitlis Emily Maitlis (born 6 September 1970) is a British journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former newsreader for the BBC. She was the lead anchor until the end of 2021 of ''Newsnight'', the BBC Two news and current affairs programme. Early lif ...

and

Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...

Campaigning

The contestants have to persuade people of the public to sign petitions so that they only flush the toilet after a 'Number 2'. Ex-Mayor

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

is the mentor for this task. "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." was the slogan coined by the purple team. The contestants have to do a Dragon's Den style pitch where they have to make their own fairtrade chocolate bar with ideas from the Dubble chocolate bar.

Publicity Stunts

Human rights activist,

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

, mentors the contestants on getting attention and publicity stunts. Both teams have to persuade members of the public to give them their extra shopping bags to raise awareness of how much unnecessary plastic is being wasted. The remaining four contestants are split into boys versus girls. Each team must campaign in the heart of Oxford Street about animal rights.

Inspiration

The final three candidates travel to Edinburgh, Scotland to be tested on their ability to get attention by Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack winner and leader of

Scottish Youth Parliament The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is a youth-led, democratic organisation which aims to represent the young people of Scotland. The SYP is made up of around 166 democratically-elected representatives aged 14–25 from across Scotland. Represe ...

John Loughton ''Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack'' was a special series of ''Celebrity Big Brother'', a spin-off series of the British reality television programme '' Big Brother''. It was broadcast on E4 from 3–28 January 2008. A number of closely associated ...

. The contestants each learn about different scientific issues and have to present a lesson in a secondary school in Edinburgh.

The Final

All ten candidates reunite; the final two present their policies in front of an assembly of young people at the House of Commons in the hope of winning the title of 'Winner of Election' and the personal meeting with Prime Minister

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Election (Cbbc) 2008 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 2000s British children's television series BBC children's television shows BBC high definition shows British reality television series English-language television shows Television series by Banijay