LONDON -- Canadian-born political commentator and election expert Robert McKenzie died in University College Hospital Monday night. He was 64.
McKenzie, whose 'swingometer' became a famous feature on BBC television coverage of general election nights, had been ill for some time with cancer, the British Broadcasting Corp. said.
BBC Director General Sir Ian Trethowan said people would remember McKenzie best for his perceptive and exuberant contribution to the BBC's election coverage.
'Behind the impish sense of fun there was a deeply knowledgeable political analyst,' Trethowan said.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, 'He was one of the most astute and experienced commentators of our time. It will be difficult to imagine an election without him.'
McKenzie was a professor of sociology at the London School of Economics with special reference to politics.
In addition to his election coverage, he will be remembered for a series of interviews with former prime minister Harold Macmillan. He was the author of a textbook on politics, 'British Political Parties.'
