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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.”
The Cardiff researchers suggest this favours the two historically large parties, Labour and the Conservatives, and limits opportunities for third parties – including Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats, and Greens.
The Lib Dems’ new petition demands that the BBC be forced to commit to ‘proportional coverage’ of political parties year-round. Currently broadcasters are only required to give proportionate weighting to parties based on their parliamentary heft during the regulated period, which operates during election periods.
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The party’s Culture and Media spokesman Max Wilkinson has also written to Ofcom director Melanie Dawes to urge her to consider the proposals – accusing the BBC of compromising on its chartered commitment to impartiality.
It comes as the BBC boss Tim Davie faced a grilling by MPs, as he was hauled before the DCMS Select Committee today (9th September).
Confronted by Lib Dem MP Liz Jarvis about the BBC’s coverage of Reform, Davie said: “Our objective is delivering fair and impartial coverage. We listen when people think we’re not delivering that and balances are wrong.”
“I’ve talked to the Liberal Democrat leader numerous times. We have a challenge with the new landscape—the two main parties were 80%, now they’re 60%.” (It’s actually around 40%).
Davie continued: “It’s appropriate we look at latest election results and polling. Reform’s estimated national [vote] share is about 30%…We’re trying to get the balance right. It’s difficult.”
But he admitted he is “worried” that the BBC could be fuelling toxic culture war debates, including through coverage of refugee ‘small boats’, Reform’s number one talking point.
However, he added: “Suggesting we’re ingratiating ourselves to one party or leaning towards another is frankly ridiculous. We’re trying to negotiate a new landscape fairly.”
Liz Webster MP pointed to criticism that Laura Kuenssberg had given soft interviews to Reform leader Farage.
Davie replied: “I don’t recognise that. I get feedback from every side. I don’t want to sound complacent because we debate this daily at the BBC. If you attend editorial meetings with editors of our main news strands: first, they don’t lack appetite to scrutinise politicians and public figures properly; second, they have no desire to give anyone a so-called easy ride if proper questions are required.”
“People may have particular views on one interview…but in the round, the BBC is doing a pretty good job.”
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Commenting on the party’s new campaign, Max Wilkinson MP, Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport Spokesperson, said: “The BBC’s decisions are compounding the rise of a dangerous populism that threatens the fabric of our country.
“The BBC is following Farage around like a lost puppy and the resulting wall-to-wall coverage is giving legitimacy to a man who wants to do to Britain what Trump is doing to America.
“The only way to counter Farage’s hateful and divisive politics is with fair and representative journalism that makes space for more decent voices – and for that we need a balanced BBC.”
The petition is live here.
Full text of Max Wilkinson MP’s letter
Dear Melanie Dawes,
I’m writing to you to urge you to review whether the high volume of coverage of Reform UK by the BBC is in line with broadcast guidance.
The BBC is an important part of our national story. Research carried out this May revealed what many of us know instinctively: that the BBC is the most respected broadcaster in the world – ranking first across the globe for trust, reliability and independence. Its mission is to act in the public interest. The corporation is governed by Royal Charter.
By paying such disproportionate attention to Nigel Farage’s latest outfit, Reform UK, the BBC is compromising its reputation. To many licence fee payers, the broadcaster gives the impression that hangs on every word uttered by Nigel Farage, despite his party’s scant representation in Parliament. Most recently, we have seen Reform enact bans on journalism and spread dangerous untruths at its autumn conference, linking Covid vaccination jabs to cancer.
The coverage of my party, the Liberal Democrats, has been disproportionately low. The broadcaster’s online platform, BBC Online, mentions Nigel Farage three times as frequently as it does Ed Davey. In Parliament the Liberal Democrats represent eighteen times as many constituencies as Reform UK.
This discrepancy does real damage to the BBC’s reputation as a fair, independent broadcaster and its ability to abide by its own charter. By giving Reform lift and airtime that is denied to other parties, the BBC assists Reform’s poll rating – an interference in politics that goes against its chartered responsibility.
This country deserves fair, proportional and balanced journalism. Currently the BBC is required by its regulator to deliver this in the regulated period: the election seasons where state broadcasters are required to give proportionate coverage to political parties, based on their parliamentary heft. Our petition sets out proposals for an extension of this regulation, to year-round – a plan that would give the electorate the respect it deserves by consistently providing fair coverage across the political spectrum.
I urge you to consider our proposal.
Yours sincerely
Max Wilkinson MP
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport
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What the Broadcast Rules Say
Section Five of the Ofcom guidance applies throughout the year. Eligible broadcasters must:
“… not give undue prominence to the views and opinions of particular persons or bodies on matters of political or industrial controversy and matters relating to current public policy in all the programmes included in any service…taken as a whole.”
Section Six of the Ofcom guidance applies during Election and referendum periods:
… Due weight must be given to the coverage of parties and independent candidates during the election period. In determining the appropriate level of coverage to be given to parties and independent candidates broadcasters must take into account evidence of past electoral support and/or current support. Broadcasters must also consider giving appropriate coverage to parties and independent candidates with significant views and perspectives.” (Source).
The Liberal Democrats are proposing to apply Section Six throughout the year – so that political parties are accorded ‘due weight’ in non-electoral cycles as well as election campaigns. This change would aim to “limit the disproportionate coverage of Reform UK currently apportioned by the BBC,” the party says.
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