A conservative leader complained of an overwhelmingly leftwing audience during a BBC political debate and was berated by the host for his objection. Unfortunately for the BBC, that conservative leader, Nigel Farage of Britain's UKIP party, was proven to be correct about the audience being stacked to the extent that the BBC was forced to give him a half hour of broadcast time to answer audience questions.
Here is a video clip of that confrontation followed by the UK Daily Express article about how the BBC was forced to give Farage his own broadcast time to avoid the heat from a formal complaint:
The Ukip leader was booed on the programme when he suggested the make-up of the BBC election debate audience was left wing "even by the left-wing standards of the BBC".
Host David Dimbleby even insisted the audience had been “carefully chosen” by independent polling organisation ICM to represent the balance between all parties.
But when the make-up of audience members was finally revealed it showed that nearly 70 per cent were left wing.
The Ukip leader indicated that he would not be raising a formal complaint over the make-up of the audience with the debate's BBC hosts, saying he was too busy fighting the election.
On hearing the news that Farage will get his own 30-minute broadcast, a party spokesman said: "Nigel Farage is delighted to accept the BBC's invitation to once again engage with the British public."
This audience stacking is something conservatives in America should be on alert for going into the presidential debates next year although the practice in this country is more in the realm of moderator stacking. Hello Candy Crowley!
