It’s no joke: BBC gives most comedy slots to Lefties

THE vast majority of comedians on the BBC are Left-leaning and anti-Brexit, an audit of the corporation’s entertainment output has found.

Out of 364 comedy slots across BBC1, BBC2 and Radio 4 last month, only four were filled by comedians who have explicitly conservative views.

But 268 of the slots on Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and other shows were taken by comics who have been outspoken against Brexit and Boris Johnson.

The audit by the Campaign for Common Sense (CSS) found 74 per cent of the slots on the popular BBC shows were held by 99 people who are Left-leaning. Among the few performers who appeared on BBC comedies in the past month who have known

Conservative leanings were Geoff Norcott and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth.

Mark Lehain, director of the CCS and a former Tory parliamentary candidate, said: ‘Comedy shows are awash with “woke” jokes and there is nothing funny about such flagrant bias. Prime- time c omedy s hows ar e dominated by comedians who broadly share the same outlook and views on politics, Brexit and Britain and simply don’t reflect the wide range of opinions held by the viewers they seek to entertain.’ He added: ‘There are loads of talented comics out there holding small- c conservative, anti-woke and pro-Brexit views. They just aren’t getting booked by the BBC.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘We don’t analyse our comedy by comparing numbers. We judge it on it being funny, how popular it is and whether it reflects a range of different voices and views.’