General Election Devon: we're here through the night

With Brad Hardware and the Local Democracy Reporting Service

Devon’s Radio Exe is to provide through-the-night live coverage of the general election as part of its commitment to local news and information.

Newsreader and presenter Brad Hardware will anchor the coverage from the station’s Exeter studios, with live input from electoral counts from across Devon provided by three local democracy reporters.

Bradley Gerrard, Guy Henderson and Alison Stephenson, will provide content covering five constituencies to local democracy media partners across Devon. They will also keep an eye on Devon’s remaining eight seats in what is the UK’s second largest county.

The reporters are funded by the BBC as part of a national scheme to boost local political coverage, with Radio Exe being the only wholly commercial station to hold such a contract from the corporation. 

Guy Henderson, who will be reporting from Torbay, where the previous Conservative majority is under pressure from the Liberal Democrats, said: “My first general election was as a newspaper rookie for Mrs Thatcher’s victory in 1979, where we worked to get out special early editions. 

“This time, with my fellow local democracy reporters in Devon, we’ll be connecting with audiences on social media, online, and on air. It’s made possible by the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service and a commercial station like Radio Exe being committed to important speech content.”

At the other end of the career ladder, Brad Hardware, 20, said: “I started as Radio Exe’s apprentice three years ago, and to be presenting a general election show is something special. It’s for listeners who don’t want back-to-back politics, but who are interested enough in what’s going on in Devon to stay informed while enjoying our usual entertainment output.”

But the youngest member of the team won’t be Brad, but Britain’s youngest newsreader Josh Tate, 18, who will be compiling summaries from Devon’s 13 constituencies and producing content for the station’s social media channels, and presenting on-air summaries.

The programme will be followed early next week by a general election special on Devoncast, Radio Exe’s podcast, which is repeated every day on Devoncast Radio.