A TALE OF TWO CONSTITUENCIES

*
Jo Coburn, making her debut as presenter of The World This Weekend, went to two constituencies to assess the mood of voters over MPs expenses, one Labour-held, one Conservative-held. Sounds fair, doesn't it?
*
First up was Stevenage, home to Barbara Follett. Here Jo talked to a sprinkling of voters of varying views, and to Labour-supporting pollster Peter Kellner (of Baroness Ashton 'fame'), but she didn't speak to any of Labour's political opponents here. She tried to talk to Babs (who is stepping down) and to her would-be Labour successor Sharon Taylor, but without success.
*
Then she moved on to St. Albans, home to Anne Main. Here she met more voters of varying views, and managed to grab a brief word with a reluctant Mrs Main. Here - unlike in Stevenage - she also talked to one of Mrs Main's opponents, Sandy Walkington, the Lib Dem candidate, who had nothing good to say about her.

The segment ended with a short interview with Labour MP John Mann, who defended Labour from claims that it could be worst hit in the coming election by the public's residual rage.
*
As I listened I thought that the bit on the dodgy Conservative was going on for longer than the bit on the dodgy Labour MP. Checking back confirmed this, with the section on Mrs Follett lasting 2 minutes 33 seconds, while the bit on Mrs Main lasted 4 minutes 13 seconds.
*
On top of this, Jo Coburn went into some detail about Anne Main's expenses claims but not about Barbara Follett's.
*
What may initially have seem balanced turned out not to be that balanced after all.
*