2019 Elgin Question Time Controversy
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The 2019 Elgin Question Time Controversy refers to an episode of the BBC political debate programme Question Time which was held in Elgin in the area of Moray, Scotland.
The episode gained a considerable amount of criticism after there were reports of bias as there was members of the audience that were Conservative politicians and activists that were reported to have been on the programme despite the impartially rules of the BBC.
Viewers also pointed out there was not any representative view from Moray in general as the majority of people there voted to Remain in the European Union despite there being many Eurosceptics on the programme.
Origin
The BBC political debate programme Question Time was held in Elgin, Scotland on May 16th, 2019.
John Swinney, deputy First Minister of Scotland and a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and Richard Leonard, leader of the Scottish Labour Party were two of the panelists on the programme.
During the programme, many Conservative politicians and activists were reported to have been on the programme. They include:
- Mary Scanlon – a Conservative MSP from 1999 to 2016
- Claire Feaver – a Conservative councillor for Moray Council
- Frank Brown – a Conservative councillor for Moray Council
- Jane Lax – An honoury member and activist for the Moray Conservatives
- Ian Lax – An honoury member and activist for the Moray Conservatives
At one point in the programme, presenter Fiona Bruce questioned the audience to see if there was actually any SNP and/or independence supporters in the audience. Only eight people lifted their hands up.
Fiona Bruce asks “Are there any
TheSNP</a> supporters in the audience tonight?” and about 5 people put their hands up. In Scotland. With polls running for the party near 40%. 🤔Now former Tory MSP posing as audience member. Something not right here <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BBCScotland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BBCScotland</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BBCQT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BBCQT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sortit?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sortit</a></p>— Deidre Brock MP (DeidreBrock) May 16, 2019
Reaction
During the programme, Elgin, Moray, Mary Scanlon and #BBCQT were all trending on Twitter in the United Kingdom.
After the programme had aired, Stewart McDonald, an SNP MSP took to Twitter to question Mary Scanlon's appearance on the programme which was liked over 3,000 times and retweeted as well.
Why is former Tory MSP Mary Scanlon – 1999 to 2016 – pretending to be an audience punter on #BBCQT? pic.twitter.com/fPqlrB1Fcr
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) May 16, 2019
Scottish Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton defended Jane Lax's appearance staring that she was representing to what the people of Scotland actually think – referring there was no support for Scottish independence. Her tweet later gained criticism and Paul Wheelhouse, another SNP MSP also responded.
WATCH 👇 Many Scots will agree with this woman who says the SNP do not speak for her. #bbcqt #Elgin #EuropeanElection2019 https://t.co/7lwPkGsQM0
— Rachael Hamilton MSP (@Rachael2Win) May 17, 2019
You mean agree with office bearer of Moray Conservatives, sitting next to two Tory Councillors (MacRae & Fever) and with former Tory MSP Mary Scanlon given a lengthy speaking opportunity from audience, too? Congratulations on packing the #BBCQT audience yesterday, Rachael.
— Paul Wheelhouse MSP🏴 (@PaulWheelhouse) May 17, 2019
Shortly after broadcast, Jane Lax, who was featured on the programme also later appeared on the Scottish Conservative Party's party political broadcast the day after broadcast.
SNP deputy leader Keith Brown had slammed the BBC for their decision to include an anti-SNP and anti-independence audience.
On May 19th, 2019, Keith Brown later suggested that the BBC should refer itself to Ofcom due to the incident
Media Reaction
Herald Scotland and the backlash on her appearance, The National and the Evening Standard reported on the incident, mainly surrounding Mary Scanlon's appearance.
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