A weekend of chaos at the BBC ended with Gary Lineker back as the presenter of Match of the Day and an independent review of the corporation's social media guidelines.
Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, was forced into a climbdown, admitting that "the grey areas" in the guidelines had caused "potential confusion".
It came after Lineker, the corporation's highest-paid star, was ordered to step back from presenting for a tweet likening Rishi Sunak's new migration policy to Nazi Germany.
Following the announcement, The Telegraph has identified a number of other BBC stars who have shared political opinions without sanction.
Lord Sugar
The star of The Apprentice has been vocal during his 18 years hosting the BBC One series, yet has never been disciplined.
In 2017, he tweeted: "For the good of the UK, I sincerely advise NOT to vote for Corbyn."
In 2018, he tweeted a doctored image of the then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sitting next to Adolf Hitler in a car at a Nuremberg rally, writing: "many a true word spoken in jest Corbyn." He later deleted the tweet and apologised.
And in 2019, he urged the public to vote Conservative in a newspaper column ahead of the general election.
Baroness Karen Brady
The co-star of The Apprentice is a Conservative peer and a Sun columnist.
Among her columns this year, Baroness Brady has called on Rishi Sunak to put Nicola Sturgeon's trans law "in the bin"; accused Sir Keir Starmer of "desperately trying to fudge and obfuscate, just as he has done for years over Brexit"; and warned of "a puppet PM" if Sir Keir wins power.
Richard Osman
Mr Osman, who was the face of the BBC's hit teatime quiz show Pointless until last year, tweeted in 2019: "I try not to tweet political opinions, but as it’s my birthday allow me just one. The Tories do want to sell off the NHS.
"Not in one go, just bit by bit until it’s unrecognisable. You’ll turn up one day and there will be a priority waiting room. They’ve always been open about it."
Dame Mary Berry
The face of BBC cookery shows told The Guardian in 2012 that "it's essential" cooking skills become part of the national curriculum.
She said she "cannot understand why children aren't given lessons in it".
She also told BBC Radio 4 in 2016 that she was "not so sure" about the Government's sugar tax.
Nadiya Hussain
The BBC Great British Bake Off winner called Theresa May "a monster" on Twitter in 2018 for ordering an air strike in Syria.
She swiftly deleted it and the BBC insisted at the time that she was "not a BBC staff member and her personal social media accounts are not connected to her work as a BBC presenter".
Gabby Logan
The prolific BBC Sport presenter suggested in a Twitter exchange with the then junior minister Natalie Elphicke that "the Government did more to condemn racism" and hit out at food banks, in defence of the Manchester United player Marcus Rashford's campaigns.
Would it be ungenerous to suggest if the government did more to condemn racism and looked deeper into the reasons why we need to feed our poor with good banks in spite of being the 6th richest nation in the world then we might not need footballers with a conscience to intervene? https://t.co/p3UsTCp3cN
— Gabby Logan (@GabbyLogan) July 12, 2021
Martin Compston
The Line of Duty star is a passionate supporter of the Scottish National Party and frequently weighs in.
He wrote in 2021: "Scotland's future is in your hands. Don't leave it to chance. The only way to make sure we re-elect Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister is to make it #BothVotesSNP."
After Ms Sturgeon's resignation as Scottish First Minister this year, Mr Compston described her as "the most capable politician in the UK of the last decade".
Chris Packham
The Springwatch and Horizon presenter told the annual Bafta television lecture in 2020 that current political leaders such as Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Vladimir Putin could one day be seen as "genocidal maniacs" for their inaction on climate change.
"If we let them, they have the capacity to become genocidal maniacs because of their inactions, because of their actions when it comes to caring for our planet," he said, according to The Guardian.
Mr Packham also frequently criticises hunting groups and has hailed Extinction Rebellion as "the first real hope of making a bigger difference".
Brian Cox
The prominent BBC science presenter is a vocal critic of Brexit.
In 2019, he tweeted: "Beyond the immense practical difficulties, Brexit is seen as a Trumpian, nativist project by those who Johnson pretends to value. Scientists will be seeking visas to leave, not to come here."
In another tweet on Brexit, he wrote:
The problem with Brexit is not only that it’s unwise to cut yourself off from the trading arrangements that the rest of your continent enjoys - it’s also so difficult and costly to do that government has no time or money to do much else. And these difficulties aren’t going away. https://t.co/g8adSTlbB0
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) December 23, 2022
Martin Lewis
The money saving expert, who has a weekly show on BBC Radio 5 Live, often campaigns to change government policies.
He recently warned that it was an "act of national mental health harm" if the energy price cap were allowed to rise.
