Theresa May has been criticised after becoming the first prime minister in decades to refuse to be interviewed by some of the UK’s biggest broadcasters.
According to Channel 4, Ms May is the first premier in 30 years to decline a request for an interview with its main news anchor, Jon Snow, during a general election campaign. She is also the first leader in 40 years to refuse to appear on BBC Radio 2.
Mr Snow wrote on Twitter: “In seven General Elections as anchor at Channel 4, after weeks of requests, Theresa May is the first serving PM to refuse me an interview – why?”
His fellow presenter, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, then added: “Theresa May has refused to sit down with any [Channel 4 News] presenter this election campaign. And Jeremy Corbyn hasn’t done one yet since manifesto”.
A Channel 4 spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that Ms May had refused the request but said the channel was still in talks with Mr Corbyn’s team about the possibility of arranging an interview.
The spokesperson declined to comment further.
Mr Snow is spending the day before the general election travelling across the country in a bid to “chase the leaders” and attempt to interview them at their final campaign events. He said he had had "no dice" with interviewing Mr Corbyn because the Labour leader had to catch a train, but added that he had heard a "strong rumour" that Ms May may agree to an interview after all.
The BBC’s Jeremy Vine later tweeted: “For the record, this is the first election in 40 years where the Prime Minister has not appeared to be interviewed on BBC Radio2”.
Ms May has repeatedly come under fire for her reluctance to openly debate her opponents. She has refused to take part in any head-to-head debates with other party leaders and has frequently failed to properly answer journalists’ questions during campaign events.
During the campaign, Ms May has conducted sit-down interviews with the BBC and ITV, as well as taking part in a “Battle for Number 10” programme, organised jointly by Sky News and Channel 4, that saw her quizzed by Jeremy Paxman and a studio audience.
She has also been interviewed by Channel 4 reporters while on the campaign trail, but has refused to do what Mr Guru-Murthy called a “wide-ranging presenter interview”.
Social media users responded to Mr Snow’s question by speculating as to the reasons for the Prime Minister’s refusal to be interviewed.
“Because the more time she spends on TV the more everyone realises she’s rubbish”, wrote one.
“She has nothing original to say – and she's terrified of being questioned and challenged”, suggested another.
The Conservative Party is yet to respond to a request for comment.
