The research also reveals most people don’t think politicians like Nigel Farage should be able to present their own TV programmes
Almost two thirds of Brits wrongly believe net migration is going up, when it has almost halved over the last year.
New research by Cardiff University found that frequent GB News viewers are the most likely to get it wrong, with 84% believing migration has increased.
According to the ONS, for the year ending December 2024, net migration is at 431,000 – almost half compared to the previous year.
The polling by YouGov, which surveyed 2,000 people, also explored their views about how effectively broadcasters scrutinise political parties’ policies.
A significant proportion (40%) said broadcasters were doing a bad job of holding Reform UK to account, compared with just 24% who felt they were doing a good job.
Similarly, 36% of people felt that the Conservatives’ policies were being fairly or very badly scrutinised, compared to 27% who felt broadcasters were doing a good job of holding the party to account.
In addition, just over half of people (51%) do not agree with Ofcom’s current rules which allow politicians like Nigel Farage, who has a prime-time show on GB News, to front their own TV programmes.
Only 29% agree with the rules. With those undecided excluded, 64% do not agree politicians should be able to present current affairs programmes.
People who would vote for Reform UK if an election was held tomorrow are the only group of party-political voters who support (44%) more than oppose (39%) politicians presenting current affairs programmes.
Responding to Cardiff University’s findings, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said the public were “right to be concerned about elected politicians playing the role of news presenters”.
She added that it was “troubling that the line between political polemic and objective facts has become blurred in some cases in recent years”.
Ofcom is consulting on some minor changes to stop politicians from being newsreaders, but is not planning to ban them from presenting shows altogether.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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