Ofcom has announced it is launching an investigation into prime minister Rishi Sunak’s recent appearance on GB News.
Last week, the PM filmed what was billed as a “people’s forum” with undecided voters in County Durham, which aired on Monday 12 February.
A week later, Ofcom has revealed it received “around 500” complaints about the broadcast, and will now be launching an investigation into the matter.
Ofcom said in a statement: “We are investigating under Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code which provide additional due impartiality requirements for programmes dealing with matters of major political controversy and major matters relating to current public policy.
“Specifically, Rules 5.11 and 5.12 require that an appropriately wide range of significant views must be included and given due weight in such programmes, or in clearly linked and timely programmes.”
Following Ofcom’s announcement, Sunak’s spokesperson told HuffPost UK the PM did not regret his GB News appearance, insisting: “This is a matter for Ofcom, which is rightly an independent regulator.
“The prime minister undertakes interviews from a range of broadcasters and outlets, such as the one he conducted last week. They are an important part of the democratic process.”
It was noted at the time that Rishi’s hour-long panel discussion was then followed by commentary on GB News from the Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party.
GB News is already under investigation from Ofcom over a number of other controversies in recent history.
This includes a live broadcast in September of last year, during which Laurence Fox launched into a sexist tirade against the journalist Ava Evans during an appearance on Dan Wootton’s evening show.
Since the incident, which was Ofcom’s most complained-about broadcast of 2023, Fox has been fired from GB News, while Wootton is still suspended from the station, which announced towards the end of last year it would be conducting an investigation of its own.