British Culture Secretary Lucy Fraser accused the BBC of bias in an interview with Sky News' Kay Burley on 22 January 2024. She claimed in the interview that the BBC was biased “at times”, according to evidence provided by Ofcom, which showed a 20% increase In the number of complaints related to neutrality.
Fraser said,
“Well, what I looked at was the evidence, the evidence from Ofcom – 39% of complaints last year were about impartiality, but the year before that it was 19%.”
She joined Burley to discuss Ofcom's new reforms, which give the regulator increased power over the BBC's online services, allowing it to oversee and enforce action against BBC News website articles that do not meet relevant broadcasting standards.
Lucy Fraser was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's cabinet reshuffle in February 2023. Notably, she is married to David Leigh, CEO of Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS), a recruitment company based in London.
Lucy Fraser's husband, David Leigh, has been CEO of AMS since 2019
According to the AMS website, David Lee joined the staffing company in 2019 as CEO.
The site states,
“David is CEO of AMS, leading the market in talent innovation, keeping the company at the forefront of the next waves of talent transformation.”
Prior to joining AMS, Lee held the positions of CEO and President of Study Group, an international education company. Prior to that, he served as CEO of SHL, a leading provider of talent assessment solutions.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lee was a graduate of London Law School. He holds a master's degree in social and political sciences from the University of Cambridge.
He began his career as a lawyer at Herbert Smith and rose through the ranks of leadership at the firm, starting as an engagement director at McKinsey and quickly becoming CEO of SHL Group in just eight years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He is also a trustee of a charity called Action for ME, which supports people with myalgic encephalomyelitis across the UK.
Lucy Fraser and David Leigh met while studying law at Cambridge. The couple is married and has two children.
In November 2021, Lucy Fraser faced conflict of interest allegations after her appointment to the Treasury in September when she revealed that her husband was the chief executive of AMS, which supplied temporary workers to HMRC in a £15bn government operation. a contract.
Lucy Fraser was first elected as a Conservative MP in 2015
Yorkshire-born Lucy Fraser, 51, worked as a barrister and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2013. According to her website, she was elected as the Conservative MP for South East Cambridgeshire in 2015 before being appointed Culture Secretary in 2023.
Lucy Fraser appeared on Sky News to announce her review of the BBC's midterms when she accused the broadcasting giant of alleged bias. When asked if she personally felt the BBC was biased, she replied that this was the public's perception.
Burley, the interviewer, responded that “perception is not necessarily reality,” and Fraser said:
“There are only perceptions. Perceptions are important. What matters about the BBC is that it is funded by the public. The public's perceptions of the BBC are important.”
After circling the topic for a while, Lucy Fraser finally admitted that she thought the BBC was biased “sometimes”. She also said she and the BBC were in talks to discuss what could be done to improve their overall impartiality score.
