BBC facing questions over UKIP audience member on Question Time

Cain Griffiiths asked a question to the panel

The BBC is facing a backlash after a former UKIP candidate appeared in the audience of its Question Time programme on Thursday.

Cain Griffiths, who stood for UKP in the 2022 by-election in Chester, was one of the audience members who posed a question to the panel about Boris Johnson’s future, after the former prime minister was found to have misled Parliament over lockdown gatherings in Downing Street.

But many viewers questioned why the BBC had not made it clear that Griffiths had previously stood for election, garnering 179 votes contesting the seat that was won by Labour’s Samantha Dixon.

“I think Boris could make a comeback and it’s not because he’s particularly special but it’s rather because of the inability of the establishment politicians to tap into what people want,” Griffiths said on the show.

“Boris had his faults, but at least he spoke in plain English. He had a bold and clear vision, unlike his successor, Rishi Sunak, who is just a conveyer belt politician.’

“Apparently, they check people’s backgrounds before letting them in. But miraculously Cain Griffiths from UKIP, a party nobody votes for any more get’s on and is one of the first audience members to get an airing. Funny that,” one viewer wrote on Twitter.

Another added: “I was in the audience a few weeks ago and they give you both a detailed questionnaire and a telephone interview. And they check your socials. I doubt this was accidental.”

However, other viewers pointed out that the background checks were not exhaustive.

“As a one time audience member, I remember having to answer an exhaustive set of questions regarding my political allegiance. But I could easily have lied. The BBC cannot possibly “check” the veracity of every applicant’s answers. That is ridiculous,” a former audience member tweeted.

According to the BBC’s website: “Question Time selects local audiences which reflect a broad range of political views.

“People apply to be in the audience for Question Time via the website and by phone and producers get in touch to ask questions on their previous voting record and future voting intentions, whether they have party political membership and also how they voted in the EU Referendum.”

Yahoo News has approached the BBC for comment.