BBC Accused of Pro-Reform Bias as Lib Dems Launch Campaign to End 'Wall to Wall' Farage Coverage
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The Liberal Democrats have launched a new campaign that aims to 'Balance the BBC', as they accuse the public service broadcaster of providing months of 'wall-to-wall' coverage of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
The Lib Dems accuse the BBC of "following Farage around like a lost puppy" and that its extensive Reform coverage - for a party of four MPs - is "fanning the flames of a dangerous populism parroted by Farage and borrowed from Donald Trump."
The petition cites the broadcaster's 'substantive efforts' to carry Reform voices on their most prominent news programmes. Ofcom was contacted for comment.
A party spokesperson said: "The BBC carried footage of Farage reacting to the Government's migrant deal with France from GB News on their flagship 6 O'Clock programme [10th July] - clipping from a rival broadcaster in order to carry Reform's commentary.
"Farage's recent press conference [26th August], where he announced his immigration policy, ran all day on the BBC's home and politics pages - a favour rarely afforded to other political leaders."
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It comes as new analysis from 'Be Broadcast's Mission Control' (BBMC) and political comms experts Cast From Clay shows how broadcast airtime is skewed across the parties.
While Labour dominates coverage beyond its current polling strength, Reform punches "far above its parliamentary weight" the analysts found.
The findings revealed how "momentum and personalities matter more than MPs or votes when it comes to broadcast visibility."
BBMC and Cast from Clay examined more than 1.5 million broadcast mentions between 1 January and 3 September 2025. By comparing airtime with MPs returned, 2024 vote share and current polling, the analysis shows which parties are getting heard, which are under-represented, and how broadcasters are "increasingly following polling momentum over the make-up of Parliament."
They found: "Reform have just 5 [now 4] MPs but clocked up 353,660 mentions, which means 70,732 mentions per MP, the highest of any party. Against their 14.3% vote share in 2024, they stand at 24,731 per point - again inflated. Measured against today's 28% polling, they record 12,631 per point, which looks closer to proportional."
"Reform win on broadcast impact per MP and per historic vote share but look more balanced when compared to current voter support."
However, the Lib Dems returned 72 MPs with 12.2% of the vote in 2024. "With 46,468 mentions, their coverage works out at only 645 per MP and 3,808 per point of 2024 vote share. On current polling of around 15-16%, they manage just 2,998 per point," less than a quarter of Reform's media exposure.
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"The Lib Dems lose out across every measure, with broadcast presence that does not reflect their electoral support," the researchers found. Meanwhile, the Greens win on their coverage per-MP, but lose when compared to the size of their voter base today (around 10%).
A separate new study from Cardiff University's School of Journalism, analysing the major politics shows including BBC Question Time and Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg, found that broadcasters "[give] more weight to selecting politicians from parties based on the number of seats won at the last general election than to other factors, such as vote share, the latest electoral performance at a local and regional level, or recent trends in public opinion data."
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The Liberal Democrats have launched a new campaign that aims to 'Balance the BBC', as they accuse the public service broadcaster of providing months of 'wall-to-wall' coverage of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
The Lib Dems accuse the BBC of "following Farage around like a lost puppy" and that its extensive Reform coverage - for a party of four MPs - is "fanning the flames of a dangerous populism parroted by Farage and borrowed from Donald Trump."
The petition cites the broadcaster's 'substantive efforts' to carry Reform voices on their most prominent news programmes. Ofcom was contacted for comment.
A party spokesperson said: "The BBC carried footage of Farage reacting to the Government's migrant deal with France from GB News on their flagship 6 O'Clock programme [10th July] - clipping from a rival broadcaster in order to carry Reform's commentary.
"Farage's recent press conference [26th August], where he announced his immigration policy, ran all day on the BBC's home and politics pages - a favour rarely afforded to other political leaders."
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We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.
It comes as new analysis from 'Be Broadcast's Mission Control' (BBMC) and political comms experts Cast From Clay shows how broadcast airtime is skewed across the parties.
While Labour dominates coverage beyond its current polling strength, Reform punches "far above its parliamentary weight" the analysts found.
The findings revealed how "momentum and personalities matter more than MPs or votes when it comes to broadcast visibility."
BBMC and Cast from Clay examined more than 1.5 million broadcast mentions between 1 January and 3 September 2025. By comparing airtime with MPs returned, 2024 vote share and current polling, the analysis shows which parties are getting heard, which are under-represented, and how broadcasters are "increasingly following polling momentum over the make-up of Parliament."
They found: "Reform have just 5 [now 4] MPs but clocked up 353,660 mentions, which means 70,732 mentions per MP, the highest of any party. Against their 14.3% vote share in 2024, they stand at 24,731 per point - again inflated. Measured against today's 28% polling, they record 12,631 per point, which looks closer to proportional."
"Reform win on broadcast impact per MP and per historic vote share but look more balanced when compared to current voter support."
However, the Lib Dems returned 72 MPs with 12.2% of the vote in 2024. "With 46,468 mentions, their coverage works out at only 645 per MP and 3,808 per point of 2024 vote share. On current polling of around 15-16%, they manage just 2,998 per point," less than a quarter of Reform's media exposure.
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"The Lib Dems lose out across every measure, with broadcast presence that does not reflect their electoral support," the researchers found. Meanwhile, the Greens win on their coverage per-MP, but lose when compared to the size of their voter base today (around 10%).
A separate new study from Cardiff University's School of Journalism, analysing the major politics shows including BBC Question Time and Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg, found that broadcasters "[give] more weight to selecting politicians from parties based on the number of seats won at the last general election than to other factors, such as vote share, the latest electoral performance at a local and regional level, or recent trends in public opinion data."
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