Leave and the Left: BBC Bias by Omission, 2002–2017
A longitudinal study examining how rarely the BBC represented left-wing arguments for leaving the European Union across fifteen years of coverage.
Document type
Longitudinal Research Paper
October 2017
41 pages · PDF
Andrew Jubb
This paper draws together evidence from 30 News-watch surveys conducted between 2002 and 2017. The research covered more than 5,500 hours of BBC output, including 274 hours of material about the European Union and Britain’s relationship with it.
The study examined whether the BBC reflected the distinct left-wing case for withdrawal: arguments concerning state aid, public ownership, workers’ rights, austerity, the treatment of Greece, the NHS, trade policy and the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy on developing countries. These perspectives differed substantially from the arguments associated with UKIP or the Conservative right.
Although millions of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green voters subsequently supported Leave, the BBC’s coverage overwhelmingly presented withdrawal as a policy of the political right. The result was bias by omission: an important strand of political thought was largely absent, narrowing public understanding of both the EU debate and the coalition that produced the referendum result.
Key findings
1. Only one contributor in 500 represented the left-wing Leave case
Across the 30 surveys, 6,882 speakers contributed to BBC coverage of the EU and Brexit. Only 14—0.2 per cent of the total—were identifiable left-wing advocates of withdrawal. Most of their appearances were too short to explain their position in any depth.
2. The substantive case amounted to only 1,198 words
The 14 contributors spoke 1,680 words in total, but 531 came from a single procedural contribution by Gisela Stuart during the Article 50 period. Only 49 words of that appearance positively addressed Brexit. Across fifteen years, left-wing speakers therefore delivered just 1,198 words making any discernible case for withdrawal—an average of 86 words per contributor.
3. Two pro-EU Conservatives received more than nine times as much space
Ken Clarke and Michael Heseltine made 28 appearances and spoke 11,208 words in support of continued membership. Their average contribution was approximately 400 words. BBC audiences consequently heard right-wing arguments for remaining in the EU at length, while left-wing reasons for leaving were scarcely explored.
4. Coverage did not reflect the breadth of support among voters
Research indicated that 37 per cent of 2015 Labour voters, 26 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters and 21 per cent of Green voters subsequently voted Leave. The Labour figure alone represented as many as 3.5 million people. Yet the BBC’s coverage gave little indication that withdrawal drew support from across the political spectrum.
5. The omission continued through the referendum and its aftermath
Newsbeat included no Labour or wider left-wing Leave contributor during the formal referendum campaign. On the News at Ten, five Labour Leave contributions totalled only 161 words—about a minute and a half across 70 editions. The post-referendum Brexit Collection included only two identifiable left-wing Leave supporters among 212 guests, neither of whom presented an extended argument.
6. Withdrawal was framed predominantly through the political right
The recurring focus was on UKIP, Conservative division, immigration and allegations of intolerance. Distinct left-wing arguments concerning public ownership, economic policy, democracy and opposition to the EU’s neoliberal structures were largely missing. This encouraged a false binary between progressive pro-Europeans and inward-looking, right-wing supporters of Brexit.