British broadcasters warned to maintain impartiality during election year

British media regulator Ofcom has said it is “sounding a note of caution to broadcasters” to maintain “the highest level of appropriate impartiality” ahead of the general election likely to take place later this year.

Ofcom has enhanced rules that apply during election periods. Any breach of the election programming rules will be treated as serious and will result in Ofcom considering the imposition of legal sanctions. The regulator has reminded broadcasters that the Broadcasting Code prohibits candidates in UK elections from acting as a news presenter, interviewer or presenter of any type of program during the election period. Politicians who are not standing in a UK election can present non-news programs – including current affairs – during election periods, provided that program complies with all relevant code rules.

The warning follows Ofcom’s finding last month that five programs on the GB News channel featuring politicians as news presenters breached broadcast impartiality rules. The investigation, which was launched last year, concluded that two episodes of “Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State of the Nation”, hosted by the titular politician; two episodes of “Friday Morning With Esther and Phil,” with Esther McVey and Philip Davies; and one episode of “Saturday Morning With Esther and Phil”, broadcast in May and June 2023, did not comply with Rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code. All three politicians are members of parliament and represent the ruling Conservative Party.

The timing of the alert is appropriate as it comes before the May 2 election day, when local government and mayoral elections will take place. The general election must take place before January 25, 2025.

Ofcom has also commissioned research into the public’s understanding of the content of news and current affairs and their expectations of appropriate impartiality when politicians present. The survey concluded that viewers and listeners strongly value appropriate impartiality as an important requirement, especially for news programs; the audience recognizes the different editorial elements that can determine whether content is news or current affairs, but in practice finds it challenging to classify content as one or the other, especially if a program contains both; and people expressed differing opinions about politicians presenting current affairs programmes, but while there were concerns, there is no clear consensus for an outright ban.

“There are a number of important lessons for broadcasters here. We expect them to pay close attention to what their viewers and listeners tell them through the research, our published decisions involving politicians as presenters, and our strengthened guidance on how we expect the rules to be applied in practice,” says Cristina Nicolotti Squires, Ofcom’s said director of the broadcasting and media group.

“As we approach local elections and inch ever closer to a general election, we are also sending a clear warning to broadcasters – and especially those who use politicians as presenters – that there will be nothing less than the highest standards of compliance with the increased impartiality rules . will be acceptable during this period. Should any broadcaster fall short, we will take swift action to enforce those rules,” Squires added.