The BBC has become too woke for working class viewers who are tuning out from the broadcaster, poll finds

•  The survey of 2,010 people found half think the quality of the BBC has dropped

A poll has found that working class viewers are turning off the BBC because they find it too ‘woke.’

The policy research business Public First found that a perception of political correctness in BBC News’ coverage means a ‘significant minority’ of working class viewers are tuning into rivals such as GB News and Talk TV.

The survey of 2,010 people found that over half of viewers think the quality of BBC News had declined and become too ‘politically correct.’ This number rose to 71 per cent among Leave voters. Interestingly, 17 per cent thought the BBC had become more right-wing in recent years.

James Frayne, one of the founding partner of Public First, warned while giving evidence at a Lord’s committee hearing looking into the future of news that this sentiment could spread to other demographics.

In words reported by The Times, Mr Frayne said the BBC needed to do more to reflect the views of ‘ordinary voters’ outside of London. He also claimed that while most people still continued to trust the BBC, the corporation’s standing had ‘diminished’ in recent years.

Broadcasting House, The BBC’s Headquarters. A survey by Public First over half of viewers think the quality of the BBC News had declined and become too ‘politically correct’

The chairwoman of the inquiry, Baroness Tina Stowell of Beeston, says the inquiry will also look into impartial news coverage of topics including net zero and immigration.

Baroness Stowell said that news coverage had to meet ‘audience expectations that diverse experiences be reflected and to not be patronised.’

A BBC spokeswoman told The Times: ‘The BBC reaches more adults from low socio economic groups than any other media organisation and is the most trusted news provider in the UK.’

‘The BBC is for everyone, and we are working hard to ensure our news is relevant and useful to all our audiences, and to show audiences why they can trust us.’

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