More than 3,500 Best for Britain supporters have complained to Sky News over what they see as excessive coverage of Reform UK, sending emails to the broadcaster within just 18 hours.

The surge in complaints followed concerns raised by Best for Britain about Sky News repeatedly live-streaming Reform UK press conferences. Using Best for Britain’s email tool, an average of more than three people lodged complaints every minute.

On July 28 and 29, Sky News broadcast Reform UK press events live from the party’s new “briefing room,” even airing footage of Party Chairman Zia Yusuf interviewing Party Leader Nigel Farage. Critics say this effectively handed editorial control to the political party, as the “briefing room” functions as a dedicated TV studio.

Sky’s coverage also clashed with major news events, including the build-up to the Lionesses’ victory parade in central London, which was relegated to a small panel on the side of the screen. No other political party appears to have received such extensive live coverage.

Cal Roscow, Best for Britain’s Director of Campaigns, said:

“Reform UK have built a TV studio of their own, which in principle is fine. But we ended up with the bizarre situation of Sky News broadcasting its own footage of a Minister back onto the channel, overlaid with commentary from the party’s Chair interviewing its Leader.

Outsourcing editorial control like this is unprecedented, potentially breaches Ofcom’s impartiality rules, and misleads viewers. Over 3,500 of our supporters have called on Sky to ensure this never happens again.” Photo by Whats new?, Wikimedia commons.