Complaint
A viewer objected to the participation of Alison Vyas, who following her appearance as an audience member in a Caerphilly Senedd by-election, was chosen as a Plaid Cymru community council candidate within the Caerphilly area. The complainant suggested that she had been planted in the audience by the producers. The ECU considered whether the programme met the BBC Guidelines on Impartiality.
Outcome
The ECU found no basis for the claim that producers had planted Ms Vyas in the audience. She attended and took part as a member of a general audience, which, as stated in the programme’s introduction, represented a broad range of views. In any event, she did not become a candidate for Plaid Cymru until some time after the debate, and the ECU saw no conflict between her participation and the BBC’s standards of impartialty.
Not Upheld