Polanski did not appear on Kuenssberg’s show at his party’s conference, but the interview has now been rescheduled amid complaints
Zack Polanski, Green Party leader in England and Wales, will be given an in-depth interview with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday 19 October.
This follows accusations from Green Party supporters that the BBC has showed anti-green bias.
The Greens noted that Kuenssberg interviewed every other political leader at their party conferences.
The BBC cancelled Polanski’s interview at Green party conference. They cited “overlapping party conferences” and news of the Manchester synagogue attack as reasons.
On 5 October during his party’s conference, Polanski tweeted: “I’m Jewish. I’m also Mancunian.
“Every other national party leader was interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg during their conference. Maybe the BBC thought as someone who also supports Palestine – I had nothing to say?”.
Kuenssberg’s show did not interview Polanski when he was elected leader in September, as she has done with other party leaders.
The BBC wrote on their website: “We’ve received complaints from people who are unhappy that Laura Kuenssberg didn’t interview Zack Polanski following the Green Party Conference.”
The broadcaster said: “The reason Mr Polanski didn’t appear on the programme the week of the Green conference was because of severe time constraints.
“This was because there were overlapping party conferences (it was the Conservative conference that week as well) and the breaking news of the synagogue attack in Manchester.”
The statement added that Polanski and the Greens “have not been denied the opportunity to appear on the programme but rather have been offered a chance to do the show on a date when they will be given more time.”
“Mr Polanski has accepted the invitation to do an interview next week (19th October).”
This comes as the BBC faces criticism for giving more coverage to Reform than other parties.
A study by Cardiff University revealed that Reform featured in a quarter of all News At Ten bulletins over six months.
By comparison, the Lib Dems, who have 72 MPs, featured in just 17.9% of bulletins, with 35 references.
The research also raised questions about the extent to which Reform policies were scrutinised. The study found that in just under a fifth of cases, there was no analysis of their claims.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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