The Channel 4 election coverage disgrace

A rap sheet of left-wing bias

Channel 4 rightly came under fire in April after revealing the panel for their election night coverage. It was announced former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis and Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy will be heading the programme, which has sparked outrage and mocking over a "balance" row.

Alastair Campbell, Sir Tony Blair's former spin doctor, will also be providing analysis for the broadcaster along with former Tory minister Rory Stewart, who was stripped of the whip by Boris Johnson.

Whilst a spokesman for the channel has stated “"The programme will be duly impartial and like Channel 4’s coverage over numerous elections will comply with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.”, the line-up is nothing short of a disgrace, with no right-wing representation whatsoever. This stunt is typical of Channel 4, who repeatedly show flagrant disregard for broadcasting standards in eschewing any notion of impartiality across their platform.

Here we list a rap sheet demonstrating just a few very obvious examples of left-wing bias from the presenters given the job of providing so-called “impartial and unbiased” coverage to the nation on election night:

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

• Suspended for a week in 2022 after being caught on camera calling Tory MP Steve Baker a "c**t".

• Accused of bias following televised Conservative leadership debate in 2022, with Blackpool South MP tweeting “Candidates can barely get a word in with this biased woke presenter in this debate. Why give left-wing Channel 4 the first leadership debate?”

Emily Maitlis

• Reprimanded by BBC in 2020 following infamous monologue on Dominic Cummings' lockdown breaches, which left many to consider her to have been biased in her coverage. The corporation was forced to apologise in May 2020 after Newsnight opened with a speech that said the former Downing Street chief of staff had "broken the rules" and "the country can see that, and it’s shocked the Government cannot".

• Accused of being an "active Labour agent" inside the BBC in a tense Commons grilling on broadcaster's impartiality in 2022.

• Emily Maitlis and her outlet The News Agents forced to delete Tweets celebrating left-wing Hope Not Hate’s “exclusive” discovery of “conspiratorial” tweets from GB News owner Sir Paul Marshall, following legal threats from Dan Wootton over the unsubstantiated claims.

• Routinely uses her Twitter account to post and re-tweet left-wing sentiments, examples including:
  

o Retweeting LBC radio presenter and arch-Remainer James O'Brien: 'The far-Right routinely disseminate and pretend to believe things they know not to be true to stoke hatred and division. To see the tactic being adopted by Conservative MPs and even an actual minister is a moment of real danger for our democracy.'

o Retweeting an anti-Tory doctor who congratulates her following an item in that evening's Newsnight: 'As a frontline healthcare worker I'm so grateful you are calling out the lies, u-turns and incompetence of this government. Proper journalism.'

o Retweeting Times columnist Jenni Russell: 'Boris was never up to the job of crisis leader. His role was figurehead. But his Cabinet can't fill the gap because they were chosen for Brexit loyalty, not competence. We're being led by bunch of inadequates.'

o Retweeting Lib Dem candidate Sue Wixley, praising Tory voters who lend their vote to the Lib Dems.

Alistair Campbell

• Former Labour party member and MP for many years under leadership of Tony Blair.

• Has become infamous for his hatred of Brexit as well as the Tories.

• In May last year, Brexiteer Alex Phillips spoke of her fear that Blair's former mouthpiece would assault her when they both appeared on BBC Newsnight Time together.

• In April, Campbell stated publicly that “The Tories deserve to be annihilated at the election”.

• On 15th June, he posted on Instagram (about the Conservatives): “They really are a bunch of shameless charlatans”.

• On 28th June, posted on Instagram: “The Tories have got to go and with a clear message that if you do as much damage to the country as they have you must pay a very very very heavy political price.”

Rory Stewart

As a former Conservative party MP and leadership candidate, Stewart has presumably been brought in to proceedings so Channel 4 can claim to have some right-wing representation on the panel. However, it has been a long time since he resembled a real Conservative:

• A 2022 interview with The New Statesman stated: ‘Today, he’s not even sure he’s still a Tory at all... “People point out that I often spend a lot of my time sounding like a Lib Dem – and probably they’re right.”

• At a live podcast show at the Albert Hall in December 2023, was quoted as saying he “would serve in a Labour government led by Keir Starmer.”

• Best mates with Alistair Campbell, jointly hosting the “Rest of Politics” podcast with the former Labour strategist and spokesman.

• Regularly publicly critical of the Conservative party since his expulsion in 2019.

• Openly stated will be voting for Labour in this General election.

Public reaction to the panel has been filled with anger and disbelief, with many using social media to express their frustration at the channel’s inability or unwillingness to provide balance.

One user wrote on X: "Doesn't think the Channel 4 election coverage team are left wing. WTF?!"

Another fumed: "On what planet is this a balanced panel to discuss politics?"

"I know it’s Channel 4 but this is something else. 5 people who are openly left wing activists or Labour Party commentators and then the poor Clare Balding who will have to listen to them all night."

Tweeting Ofcom, another penned: "So are you going to say that to channel 4 which is quite clearly anti Tory pro labour biased Alastair Campbell and his gang."

"Channel 4 is very biased," someone else added, while another wrote: "Channel 4 are biased in my view and doesn’t have a balanced debate as part of its daily broadcast."

So, the evidence is irrefutable… Channel 4 has filled its election night coverage team with staunch left-wing activists (some posing as journalists) in just the latest example of the channel’s disregard for impartiality.

Let’s not forget that Channel 4 is part-funded by the taxpayer. How they are allowed by Ofcom to get away with such an obviously biased presenting panel beggars belief. I’m surprised they didn’t go the whole hog and invite Gary Lineker, Carol Vorderman and Joe Lycett to be part of the panel.

Well one thing is for certain… I for one will not be tuning in to the Channel 4 coverage, which promises to be little more than hours upon hours of shameful hand-wringing over an inevitable Tory defeat.