Dear John,
A new campaign, launched by the Liberal Democrats, is putting a spotlight on the BBC’s “wall to wall” coverage of Reform UK. They claim that the BBC is “following Farage around like a lost puppy” – and for a party of four MPs, they’re getting far too much airtime.
A recent Cardiff University report showed that Reform featured in 49 bulletins between January and July, while the Lib Dems only featured in 35, despite holding more Parliamentary seats. Another study found that Reform averages over 70,000 mentions per MP, far more than any other party.
We also know that BBC executives explicitly drew up plans to attract Reform-aligned viewers by tailoring both their news and drama output. The corporation claims they’re not trying to “ingratiate themselves to one party”, but rather that Reform UK are “making the political weather”.
And therein lies the deeper issue. Reform dominates the national debate not just because of their poll ratings, but because they say outrageous things that attract headlines and force everyone else to respond. The Government’s reactive approach only worsens this imbalance.
There should be an honest reckoning with unbalanced air time, particularly for smaller parties like the Greens and Lib Dems.
But more urgently, journalists must start challenging Nigel Farage on his record: his sycophancy towards Donald Trump, his praise for Putin, his billionaire backers and shady financial ties, and his total lack of tangible plans for government beyond scapegoating migrants. If that scrutiny were applied, his ample airtime would look very different.
Instead, Farage thrives on outrage. His crackpot schemes and inflammatory soundbites stick because the rest of politics is paralysed, and because the media feeds the spectacle rather than interrogating it.
Back in 2023, our Functional Democracy Goals report laid out how to fix the UK’s media and restore the BBC as a world-class public broadcaster. In a landscape dominated by right-wing rags and red-top tabloids, that role is more vital than ever.
But media reform is just one piece of the puzzle. What we truly need is a democratic reset – one that rebalances our politics, strengthens accountability, and ensures the public gets a fairer, fuller picture of what’s at stake. That’s the fight we’re leading at Open Britain, and with your support, we can make it happen.
