In the aftermath of the general election, Ian Payne unearths a fascinating piece of local life.

Since the recent general election , I have been following other re-runs of elections past on You Tube, notably those from 1966, 1970 and 1974.

Interestingly, I have just come across a piece early into the 1974 BBC election broadcast, where a young David Dimbleby presents a young Richard Hislip, a butcher from Kingstanding, who at the time shared Ted Heath’s economic forecast. He is interviewed in his Kingstanding shop and discusses how price increases irritate his customers. The BBC state “near Perry Barr” in the introduction, but I am sure they mean Great Barr.

I just wondered if this butcher’s shop was still around in Kingstanding, or does anybody remember going into Richard’s shop or even remembers the time the BBC were at his shop, interviewing him as part of that election broadcast?

Of course the 1974 election brought about two elections in one year due to a hung Parliament. Definitely a fascinating blast from the past.