Ukip and the Greens could qualify for three party political broadcasts a year on BBC channels under new rules being considered by the corporation’s governing body.
The BBC Trust is considering giving parties with just one MP party political broadcast slots on BBC1 and BBC2.
Currently a party must have at least two representatives in elected in the relevant broadcast area, as well as demonstrating widespread support, meaning neither Ukip nor the Greens qualify for a broadcast.
The reduced threshold for the number of representatives would also apply to devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each nation’s broadcasts are considered separately, so parties with two representatives within the nation’s borders in either the House of Commons or national legislatures qualify.
The trust is also proposing to include members of the European parliament in the qualifying criteria, which would make it more likely that smaller parties would qualify if they can demonstrate support.
The proposed changes are partly driven by the results of the last election, in which a number of parties received substantial shares of the vote but did not qualify for party political broadcasts.
The consultation says: “The current allocation criteria for PPBs were approved in 2012, and did not anticipate the anomaly arising from an unprecedented discrepancy between representation (seats) and share of the vote in the last general election.
“This is particularly the case with regard to the UK Independence party (Ukip) in both England and Wales. Ukip could not qualify under the current criteria whereas other parties (for example the Liberal Democrats) with a lower share of the vote potentially could qualify.”
The document also cites the impending referendum on EU membership, which it says would make the gap between popular support and airtime worse “if a party which was unambiguously in favour of leaving the EU was unfairly denied PPBs”.
However, the trust is also proposing changing the wording of how it assesses support, saying it will take into account past level’s of support as well as current, which could count against parties such as Ukip.
The broadcasts, which take place in autumn, winter and spring, differ from those during elections when qualification is based on the number of candidates a party is running rather than elected representatives.
The initial decision on whether to give a party political broadcasts is made by the BBC’s chief adviser for politics, currently former Question Time executive editor Ric Bailey, following consultation with other broadcasters. However, the BBC executive have final say and parties can apeal to the BBC Trust if they are not happy with the decision.
The consultation runs until 19 November.
- This article was amended on 16 October to remove a reference to complaints in the standfirst and clarify how parties qualify for broadcasts in different regions.
