So perhaps that is why the reconstituted Radio 1 is now saying what it really thinks about the old guard, and why Mr Bannister might be entitled to a round of I-told-you-so's.For the moment, he is resisting. "In all the hoo-haa of the last 18 months, people have forgotten there was a problem with Radio 1. If you think it should be in touch with music that is happening now, in touch with what young people like now, it was clearly getting out of touch."It was growing older with its audience, its presenters were middle-aged people who lived the life of middle-aged people - they didn't go to clubs or see new bands, they went back to their houses and watched TV. Mr Davies predicted that it would become a minority station, while Mr Bates called for the resignations of Mr Bannister and Liz Forgan, head of BBC network radio. When DJ Steve Wright left earlier this year and Talk Radio UK looked on paper as though it would pose a genuine threat, pundits prepared to write Mr Bannister's obituary.But now it seems Radio 1 is hitting back.

The latest official industry statistics, to be released on Friday, will show that the station is finally winning back listeners - as many as 700,000 of them. Radio 1 has just produced a fly-on-the-wall-style film about itself, developing the "as it is" theme of its advertising campaign. One bit features the station's breakfast show wunderkind Chris Evans recalling some droplets of wisdom from Mr Travis, who was apparently suggesting that his duty as a DJ was to pass on to his listeners everything he knew."The thing is," Mr Evans tells the camera, "how can you pass on f*** all?"Following Mr Bannister's revamp Radio 1 lost 5.2 million listeners, with its weekly reach languishing at 10.5 million by the first quarter of this year. But this week that changes, with the station expected to register its first significant audience gains this decade. Whether this now leads to a vindication of the strategy adopted by its controller, Matthew Bannister, remains to be seen.

It was his vigorous shake-up of the station's line-up and output in the autumn of 1993 that sent out the old and brought in the new. One thing is for certain though: it will do nothing to improve relations with the not-so-dearly-departed old-timers such as Simon Bates, Dave Lee Travis and Gary Davies. Only on defence and Northern Ireland - 12th and 13th in the electorate's order of priorities - do the Tories lead.l The author is chairman of MORI and Visiting Professor of Government at the London School of Economics.. RADIO 1's attempts to hold on to listeners during the past two years have at times resembled an inverted frying pan clinging on to an omelette. The most important of all is health care: 61 per cent say it will be a key issue in determining how they will vote at a general election. By a margin of eight to one, against five to one a few months ago, those people say Labour would be better.

Unemployment is decisive for 53 per cent of the electorate: they say Labour would be better by more than seven to one. Education is important for 52 per cent: they prefer Labour's approach by a margin of four to one.And so it goes on. There was also a steep fall in the "feel-good" factor: the difference between those who expect the economy to get better over the next year and those who expect it to get worse.Equally worrying for the Tories are the voters' views on which party is best equipped to deal with important issues. After Mr Major called the leadership contest on 22 June, Tory support jumped: the Tories moved to an average of 29 per cent, Labour to 55 per cent and the Liberal Democrats to 12 per cent. Again there were small variations in individual polls, but the Tory share rose by an average of 7 percentage points,Labour and the Liberal Democrats were down by 3 each, other parties by 1.