A BBC podcast featuring Laura Kuenssberg has been criticised for its discussion of Nigel Farage and the Reform party.
Speaking on the latest BBC Newscast episode, Laura Kuenssberg and Chris Mason were discussing the possibility of Reform becoming the largest opposition party after the election.
It comes after a YouGov poll commissioned by The Times this week had Reform at 19% and the Conservatives at 18% in voting intention.
Why do #BBC journalists waste their & our time asking nonsensical questions? Reform cannot in any realistic scenario become the official opposition; the Lib Dems could. But that is less sensationalist. And does not involve talking up Farage. https://t.co/ckTGMYdIMH
— Gerry Hassan 🇺🇦 (@GerryHassan) June 14, 2024
While discussing Reform on the podcast, Kuenssberg said: “It’s almost unimaginable that the Reform party would be the biggest party in opposition, which means the party with the second-biggest number of MPs sitting in the Commons, that would be something astonishing, seismic, any other adjective you want to use and nobody in Reform thinks that they are heading for more than a sort of sprinkling of seats as things stand.
“However, they do think that they can get millions of votes, maybe as many as six million votes.”
Mason then added that under the Westminster system, “it’s not much use having lots of people in lots of places who like you”.
“You need lots of people in geographically concentrated spots.”
However, some critics took to Twitter/X to criticise the discussion with political commentator
Gerry Hassan writing: “Why do #BBC journalists waste their & our time asking nonsensical questions?
“Reform cannot in any realistic scenario become the official opposition; the LibDems could. But that is less sensationalist.
“And does not involve taking up Farage.”
Many others also took to the comments section to express their frustration with one person saying, “this is simply not going to happen”.
“You’re entering into the realms of fantasy here,” said a second while a third user questioned why this had even been put up for discussion.
The comments come after Stephen Flynn recently criticised the UK media for its “wall-to-wall” coverage of Farage’s run for a seat in Westminster.
He argued it risk letting right-wing voices dominate the narrative.
Prior to announcing his run as an MP, Farage appeared on a Question Time for what was believed to be the 37th time at the end of May.
