BBC News presenter Martine Croxall taken off air amid bias claims

By Alex Green, PA Acting Deputy Entertainment Editor

BBC News presenter Martine Croxall has been taken off air amid claims she showed bias after former British prime minister Boris Johnson pulled out of the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.

During her introduction to Sunday night’s edition of The Papers, in which members of the press and experts look at how the main stories of the day were covered, she said: “Well this is all very exciting, isn’t it?” adding: “Am I allowed to be this gleeful? Well I am.”

The programme started at 10.30pm on Sunday, around 90 minutes after Mr Johnson pulled out of the Tory leadership race.

BREAKING: BBC News presenter Martine Croxall has been taken off air following criticism on TalkTV for comments she made after Boris Johnson pulled out of the Tory leadership race.

Ms Croxall said: “Am I allowed to be this gleeful? Well I am.” pic.twitter.com/ecnN3vxaRo

— TalkTV (@TalkTV) October 24, 2022

In her first question to her guests, Croxall also remarked: “Can we even show you the front pages just yet, have they arrived? No they haven’t arrived.

“It’s all a little bit, you know, lastminute.com isn’t it? Because all the front pages were probably out of date by the time we received them.”

Some viewers, including several Tory MPs reacting to a clip on social media, complained it displayed bias.

A statement from the broadcaster said: “BBC News is urgently reviewing last night’s edition of The Papers on the News Channel for a potential breach of impartiality.

“It is imperative that we maintain the highest editorial standards. We have processes in place to uphold our standards, and these processes have been activated.”

Former British culture secretary Nadine Dorries said on Twitter: “This lack of impartiality demonstrates how deep seated the bias is.”