BBC News has taken its presenter Martine Croxall off-air amid an impartiality controversy following Boris Johnson pulling out of the Tory leadership race.
The BBC is investigating a potential impartiality breach after Ms Croxall introduced Sunday night’s edition of The Papers, in which the main stories of the day are reviewed, which started shortly after Mr Johnson announced he would withdraw from the contest.
She said: “Well this is all very exciting, isn’t it.” She then added: “Am I allowed to be this gleeful? Well I am.”
Speaking to her guests, the presenter said: “Can we even show you the front pages just yet, have they arrived? No they haven’t arrived.
“It’s all a little bit, you know, lastminute.com isn’t it? Because all the front pages were probably out of date by the time we received them."
The 53-year-old also suggested that her comments could have breached BBC guidelines.
Responding to a guest’s joke aimed at Mr Johnson, she said: “I shouldn’t probably [laugh]. I’m probably breaking some terrible due impartiality rule by giggling.”
Several Tory MPs were among those who complained over a clip of the show on social media, saying it showed bias from the broadcaster.
Among them was prominent Boris Johnson ally and former Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries.
She said: “This lack of impartiality demonstrates how deep seated the bias is."
A BBC spokesperson said: “BBC News is urgently reviewing last night’s edition of The Papers on the News Channel for a potential breach of impartiality.
"It is imperative that we maintain the highest editorial standards. We have processes in place to uphold our standards, and these processes have been activated.”
On Sunday evening, Mr Johnson claimed he had the nominations needed to make it onto the ballot paper but admitted he could not unite his warring party.
The contest was won by Rishi Sunak, after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to clear the 100 nominations from MPs needed by 2pm necessary to make the ballot.
Mr Sunak will now become Britain’s first Hindu Prime Minister and the youngest PM in modern political history.
