REFORM UK have appeared more than three times as much as the SNP on Question Time since the General Election despite having half the number of seats at Westminster.
Analysis by The National has shown the SNP have only appeared on the programme once since the UK went to the polls, with Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth starring in an episode from Dundee at the start of October.
Despite having only five MPs compared to the SNP’s nine, Reform have been represented three times in the shape of leader Nigel Farage, chairman Zia Yusuf, and former MEP Ben Habib.
Meanwhile, the LibDems – who have 14 times more MPs at Westminster than Reform have – have only appeared four times, with two of those appearances coming from deputy leader Daisy Cooper.
The SNP have said the fact Reform have appeared three times as much as them on the programme is “difficult to understand” and have urged the BBC to rectify the “disparity” going forward.
“The fact that Reform UK – which has half the number of MPs and no Scottish representation at all – has appeared three times as often as the SNP on Question Time is difficult to understand,” a party spokesperson said.
"The people of Scotland deserve to have their views and interests represented in flagship programmes like this and it is important that this disparity is rectified going forward."
On the back of the findings, the BBC has been urged to be more transparent about how it selects panels.
Dr Phil Burton-Cartledge, who analysed the political balance and demographics across more than three decades of Question Time, said this is the only way the BBC will have any chance of clearing up accusations of bias.
He added that he has concerns about Reform being “over-egged” by the BBC, adding that the corporation and the UK Government should be looking to address this.
“It looks to me that what they are doing since the election is going by vote share because even though the LibDems have got 72 MPs they got 3.5 million votes, whereas for Reform they have five MPs but they got 4.1 million votes. So from the standpoint of proportionality, you could say that is more or less okay.
“But when you take in everything else about how Reform appear on so many other political news programmes, and not forgetting GB News exists which is basically Reform UK TV, the media does have a big problem and I would expect the BBC to address this.
“I would also expect the Government to do something as well. The fact the Government is entirely okay with a right-wing dominated media, which is going to bite them and already is doing, I just think is unconscionable.”
He added: “If the BBC are serious about wanting to clear up accusations of bias on Question Time they need to be transparent about how they select the party affiliations of the guests on there.”
There has only been one episode in Scotland since the election, but in the past SNP MPs have occasionally appeared on episodes filmed in England.
Stephen Flynn appeared on an episode in November 2021 from London, while Ian Blackford also appeared on a show from London in 2019. Alex Salmond was on the panel on a programme filmed in Portsmouth in October 2017.
Given the depletion of SNP MPs in the election, Burton-Cartledge said he now suspects the BBC will go back to “how things were pre-2015” when SNP MPs only really appeared when the episode was in Scotland.
Asked if he was concerned at how much Reform were being platformed by the BBC, he claimed they have only been as successful as they have because of the press coverage they and UKIP have received since the 2009 European election.
“I am concerned Reform are over-egged on the BBC and that’s always been the case,” added Burton-Cartledge.
“I strongly believe that UKIP and Farage would not have got any real footing if it wasn’t for the press coverage they received in the run up to the 2009 EU elections and then afterwards.
“They [the BBC] kept hyping UKIP as a threat to Labour particularly but also the Conservatives. I have issues with how they have hyped them up.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Question Time is rooted in politics and therefore has to achieve fair and appropriate representation from the various political parties across the UK.
"This means there will nearly always be a representative from the UK government or an appropriate representative of the devolved government from the nation we are broadcasting from, as well as a range of other political voices.
"The panel will also feature representatives from other political parties over time, across the series, taking as our guide the level of electoral support at national level each party has, as well as any big and sustained shifts in opinion polling.”
