Radio station breached rules in coverage of London mayoral election: Ofcom

Radio station LBC breached Ofcom rules in its coverage of last May’s London mayoral election, the regulator has found.

The station blamed human error.

This issue arose after a debate between the four leading candidates chaired by presenter Tom Swarbrick, who failed at its end to include a full list of other candidates or say this could be found on the station’s website.

Ofcom said LBC had been entitled to include only the four leading candidates - on the basis of polling and previous support - who were Sadiq Khan (Labour), Susan Hall (Conservative), Rob Blackie (Liberal Democrat) and Zoë Garbett (Green).

It had earlier interviewed Reform candidate Howard Cox and Natalie Campbell, the only independent to attract any significant support.

Ofcom said none of these programmes provided a full list of all candidates and raised issues under section of its code that states: ”Any constituency or electoral area report or discussion after the close of nominations must include a list of all candidates standing, giving first names, surnames and the name of the party they represent or, if they are standing independently, the fact that they are an independent candidate.”

LBC said a full list of candidates was available on its website, and this “was referenced across LBC’s schedule at regular intervals throughout the election period  in news bulletins and in programming”.

It said it had intended to mention the full list after the four-way debate but this “was omitted due to human error and the pressure of a heated debate within a live broadcast environment”.

Mark Smulian