:00:13. > :00:18.Hello and welcome to Newswatch. Last week's elections brought a UKIP
:00:19. > :00:25.political earthquake to Britain, or did they? If they did, was the BBC
:00:26. > :00:28.partly responsible? The Corporation's political editor
:00:29. > :00:31.response to charges that their success was overhyped and discusses
:00:32. > :00:41.his questioning of Nigel Farage during the election campaign.
:00:42. > :00:45.As the results of the English local elections and those for the European
:00:46. > :00:49.Parliament came in, one man's smiling face dominated television
:00:50. > :00:56.screens. Much of the talk was about UKIP and Nigel Farage, as it had
:00:57. > :00:59.been during the campaign. Even when he was speaking to one set of
:01:00. > :01:03.cameras, the UKIP leader had to deal with a question thrown at him by a
:01:04. > :01:05.nearby Nick Robinson. Viewers complained about this at the time,
:01:06. > :01:10.as they did when the BBC's political complained about this at the time,
:01:11. > :01:15.as they did when the editor questioned him about employing his
:01:16. > :01:20.German wife as a secretary? Nobody else could do that job. No British
:01:21. > :01:25.person could work for you as your secretary? You do not think anybody
:01:26. > :01:28.capable is of doing that job? And again when they discussed concerns
:01:29. > :01:33.people might have if a group of Romanians moved in next door. What
:01:34. > :02:02.if Jamaica Inn is moved next door? No. Nigerians?
:02:03. > :02:08.Projected national shared... Perhaps because of the scrutiny Nigel Farage
:02:09. > :02:13.and his party were put under, they did well in the local elections in
:02:14. > :02:18.England, but how well? David Graves looked closely at the numbers. The
:02:19. > :02:23.BBC have talked about a surge, a massive increase, huge success, UKIP
:02:24. > :02:32.the story of the day. To put it in context, look at the results.
:02:33. > :02:39.Labour, 2100 seats. United Kingdom Independence party, at the most
:02:40. > :02:50.fourth place, 163 seats. Try and reconcile that with BBC coverage. It
:02:51. > :02:54.does not make sense. When the European results came through, it
:02:55. > :02:57.was clear that UKIP at won. For some viewers, the BBC had played a part
:02:58. > :03:41.in that victory. The BBC's political editor, Nick
:03:42. > :03:43.Robinson, joins us down the line. Let's start with the election
:03:44. > :03:52.campaign, were your interviews with Nigel Farage to personal? I don't
:03:53. > :03:55.think they were. I did take a view that Nigel Farage was likely to be
:03:56. > :03:59.at the centre of this election campaign, that it was widely
:04:00. > :04:03.predicted by all parties that UKIP could win the European elections,
:04:04. > :04:06.and that Nigel Farage had done a lot of clips for news programmes,
:04:07. > :04:11.usually with a pint in his hand and a smile on his face, usually
:04:12. > :04:15.inviting him to comment on others, rather than being interrogated on
:04:16. > :04:20.his own position. I thought it was right to do that. It is clear that
:04:21. > :04:24.Nigel Farage divides viewers and voters, and we have had complaints
:04:25. > :04:28.from both sides, but on the local elections, the charge is that the
:04:29. > :04:37.BBC over reported, exaggerated how successful UKIP had been. They only
:04:38. > :04:42.got 163 seats, compared to more than 2004 Labour, and their share of the
:04:43. > :04:46.vote went down. I think Labour supporters were deeply frustrated
:04:47. > :04:50.that they had many gains, the most of councils and councillors and
:04:51. > :04:55.bodes. I get these messages myself, they feel that was not properly
:04:56. > :04:58.represented. We did report that, although it is worth remembering
:04:59. > :05:02.that the results got much better into Friday than they were overnight
:05:03. > :05:07.Thursday night and into Friday morning. So the picture on Friday
:05:08. > :05:11.night was much better and healthier for Labour than it had been the
:05:12. > :05:15.night before, and at the time people were switching on their radios or
:05:16. > :05:18.televisions, or downloading things on the internet first thing on
:05:19. > :05:23.Friday morning. The point we were making again and again was to report
:05:24. > :05:28.the facts, you always got to gain this and you gave that, but also we
:05:29. > :05:34.are there to add analysis and interpretation. `` who gained this
:05:35. > :05:39.and who gained that. The people who study elections, Professor John
:05:40. > :05:42.Curtice, Peter Kellner, they all agreed that these results were not
:05:43. > :05:46.good enough for Labour to be confident of winning the next
:05:47. > :05:50.election. They only had a lead of about 1% over the Conservatives.
:05:51. > :05:54.They were not as good as other positions had done at a similar time
:05:55. > :05:59.in this sort of situation before an election. UKIP, on the other hand,
:06:00. > :06:06.had made a breakthrough, no longer just a European party, they were
:06:07. > :06:08.finding a base in local councils not just in the South against the
:06:09. > :06:10.Tories, but in the North against Labour, establishing themselves as
:06:11. > :06:15.the fourth party of English politics. They went on to do it in
:06:16. > :06:19.British politics at the Euro elections, but we were right to
:06:20. > :06:24.point that out. In the European elections, UKIP clearly won, but
:06:25. > :06:28.viewers are concerned that the BBC coverage made that a self`fulfilling
:06:29. > :06:34.prophecy, almost a cheerleader for UKIP. I know there is that feeling,
:06:35. > :06:38.but I think it is wrong. Why do I think it is wrong? Because the big
:06:39. > :06:42.rise in UKIP's poll ratings happened before this campaign, long before Mr
:06:43. > :06:48.Farage was getting onto the television day in and day out. There
:06:49. > :06:51.had already been a surge, one year ago they had a record`breaking
:06:52. > :06:56.performance at the local council, county council elections last May.
:06:57. > :07:02.And therefore you cannot make that link between recent coverage and his
:07:03. > :07:06.performance. We got the same complaints over last year's local
:07:07. > :07:12.elections, and many people feel the BBC has been building up UKIP for
:07:13. > :07:15.over a year. The BBC has to try to give their coverage to politicians,
:07:16. > :07:19.and in case people wonder how that is done, it is by studying how
:07:20. > :07:24.parties have performed in the past, how many seats they have got, for
:07:25. > :07:27.example, how they did in previous elections. We also look at their
:07:28. > :07:38.current poll ratings, and decisions are made not by the likes of me all
:07:39. > :07:40.by my editors, but we have a chief political adviser whose job it is to
:07:41. > :07:43.advise the regulators, the BBC Trust, who makes a judgment about
:07:44. > :07:50.share of coverage. His decision, which was echoed in Tiley by ITV and
:07:51. > :07:54.Channel 4 and Sky, was that UKIP should get equal coverage to the big
:07:55. > :08:00.three parties in the European elections. `` entirely. It was a
:08:01. > :08:04.national vote, they performed very well in 2009, they were performing,
:08:05. > :08:09.in the opinion polls, in a way that suggested they may come first, and
:08:10. > :08:12.therefore a decision was made by our regulators that my being fair and
:08:13. > :08:19.balanced, that meant giving UKIP same level of coverage as the other
:08:20. > :08:22.parties. BBC News analysis presented both the euro and local boats as the
:08:23. > :08:33.other parties. BBC News analysis presented both the euro and. ``
:08:34. > :08:40.votes. There was very little on the issues, surely that is failing to do
:08:41. > :08:50.the job. If you listen to your local radio station, you will see stories
:08:51. > :08:56.about local councils, reported in terms of that council, the decisions
:08:57. > :09:00.they are taking. It is not realistic that at a national level we can do
:09:01. > :09:03.that, so at the elections we see them through a prism of what it
:09:04. > :09:07.means for a general election, and there is a long history of local
:09:08. > :09:11.elections being a pretty good guide as to what will happen. On the
:09:12. > :09:18.European Parliament, I think that is a fair criticism, there was
:09:19. > :09:21.certainly coverage around, and it is fair criticism that we need to
:09:22. > :09:24.constantly think about how we explain to people what a member of
:09:25. > :09:30.the European Parliament does, and what the differences are between
:09:31. > :09:35.people who represent one party and represent another. Nick Robinson,
:09:36. > :09:40.thank you. Just time for a couple of other
:09:41. > :09:44.items on BBC News this week which have caught your attention. Question
:09:45. > :09:48.Time certainly did that, the panel included Piers Morgan and footballer
:09:49. > :09:54.Jo Wheeler Barton, who put it to Louise Bours that the should not be
:09:55. > :09:59.pleased with their performance. All you represent is the best of a bad
:10:00. > :10:06.bunch. If I am somewhere and there was four really ugly girls, I am
:10:07. > :10:25.thinking... Oh dear, oh dear! That is all you are to us.
:10:26. > :10:30.Finally, some or positive feedback, Borrell Williams was interviewed on
:10:31. > :11:01.Breakfast, and his hit signal Most viewers applauded the
:11:02. > :11:14.enthusiasm and bravery that went into that.
:11:15. > :11:21.Do let us know what on BBC News makes you happy or unhappy! That is
:11:22. > :11:32.all for this week, but call us with your views. We are on Twitter, and
:11:33. > :11:38.if you ever miss our programme on telly, you can catch up on the
:11:39. > :11:39.website. We will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News
:11:40. > :11:52.coverage again next week. Goodbye. Hopefully the weather will make you
:11:53. > :11:54.happy this weekend, because there will be a lot of dry weather out