Zia Yusuf has appeared on Question Time more often than the Green Party since the start of 2025
Reform UK and the BBC have come under fire after the hard-right party’s head of policy appeared on BBC Question Time for the sixth time in the space of just 16 months.
Zia Yusuf has appeared on Question Time more times than the Green Party as a whole since the start of last year, despite the party’s recent surge in the polls.
Professor Des Freedman, a media expert at Goldsmiths University of London, told The National newspaper that Question Time is helping “to push British politics to the right”.
He said: “Perhaps they [the BBC] don’t want to fall foul of what could be the next government. Or perhaps it’s because they love the idea of giving airtime to right-wing and inflammatory attacks on migrants and asylum seekers because it makes for ‘provocative’ viewing.
“Either way, by disproportionately favouring the non-elected Zia Yusuf having also invited Reform leader Nigel Farage nearly 40 times onto the programme, Question Time is helping to push British politics to the right and to normalise anti-immigrant views.”
According to The National’s analysis of Question Time in 2025, Reform UK appeared on panels more than four times as often as the Green Party, when appearances by Reform UK by-election candidate Matthew Goodwin are included.
Max Modell, a media expert at Cardiff University, told The National: “It is rare for a single party figurehead to appear on Question Time as frequently as Zia Yusuf has in the past 16 months.”
“This is particularly notable given Yusuf has appeared more often than the Green Party since the start of 2025.”
Research by Cardiff University also found that right-wing journalists vastly outnumber those from the left on the programme.
Almost half the journalists on the programme last year were from right-wing publications compared to just a fifth from left-wing outlets.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn't have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.