Reform TV: How GB News Became a Political Party's Broadcast Arm — and Why Britain's Regulator Stopped Watching

In March 2026, former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger published the results of an investigation that confirmed what critics had alleged for years: GB News, Britain's fastest-growing television news channel, has become what Rusbridger called "Reform TV" — a broadcaster whose programming systematically promotes the agenda of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party [1]. The investigation, titled Screen Scandal, assembled more than 20 senior journalists from outlets including the BBC, the Daily Mail, the Sunday Telegraph, and ITV to review 15 hours of GB News programming against Ofcom's Broadcasting Code [2].

Their verdict was stark. On a compliance scale of 0 to 5, the average score was 1.5 [2]. "One political party in Britain has effectively ended up with its own television station," Rusbridger concluded [1].

The question now is whether anyone with the power to act will do anything about it.

The Rusbridger Investigation: What It Found

The Screen Scandal report, published by The New World, reviewed 15 programmes from January 2026 along with a November 2025 interview with US President Donald Trump [2]. The reviewers — drawn from across Britain's political and editorial spectrum — identified what the report described as "numerous glaring breaches of impartiality," a "widespread disregard for accuracy," a "systemic use of Reform politicians, candidates and supporters," and an "overwhelmingly right wing bias" in guest selection and issue framing [1][2].

Specific findings included:

Matt Goodwin's programme (23 January 2026): The broadcast featured a guest ratio of 5 to 1 favouring right-wing and Reform-aligned perspectives [2]. Four of five segments focused on immigration. Goodwin announced his Reform UK candidacy four days after the broadcast [2]. One reviewer described it as "one man's rant against immigration, supported by compliant and affirmative opinions" [1].

The Trump interview (November 2025): Chris Banatvala, Ofcom's founding director of standards, reviewed the footage and called it "the most nakedly partial interview I think I've ever seen" [3]. Presenter Bev Turner failed to challenge Trump's false claims about climate, and the segment generated 32 formal complaints to Ofcom [2]. The regulator judged that late-night guest challenges satisfied impartiality requirements and took no action [3].

Accuracy failures across multiple programmes: Jacob Rees-Mogg introduced a conspiracy theorist without identifying them as such; Poppy Coburn misidentified a local MP with no correction issued; and presenter James Glancy made unchallenged factual claims about European demographics that reviewers judged to be false [2].

Of the 15 programmes reviewed, nine generated zero Ofcom complaints. Two received two complaints each [2]. Despite the low complaint volumes, the professional reviewers found pervasive code violations throughout — suggesting a gap between the public complaints process and the actual scale of non-compliance.

The Money Trail: Who Pays, Who Benefits

The financial architecture connecting GB News and Reform UK runs through several channels.

Ownership: GB News is owned by All Perspectives Ltd, a holding company controlled by hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall and Dubai-based investment firm Legatum [4][5]. Marshall, a former Liberal Democrat donor who shifted rightward after Brexit, has invested tens of millions into the channel since its 2021 launch [5]. GB News has recorded cumulative losses exceeding £100 million — £30.7 million in 2021–22, £42.4 million in 2022–23, and £33.4 million in 2023–24 — with Marshall and other owners continuing to cover the shortfall [5].

Farage's dual role: Nigel Farage, Reform UK's leader and MP for Clacton, has declared £585,000 in GB News fees between July 2024 and December 2025, for three nights' work per week [4][6]. He also holds approximately 2% of GB News in company shares, valued at nearly £500,000 [2]. This arrangement means that Reform UK's leader receives roughly £80,000 per month from the broadcaster — a financial relationship that critics argue constitutes an indirect subsidy to the party [5].

Other Reform-linked presenters: Lee Anderson, a Reform UK MP, earns £100,000 on top of his parliamentary salary for presenting Lee Anderson's Real World on Friday nights [4]. Richard Tice, who was appointed to Farage's frontbench team as spokesperson for Business, Trade, and Energy Policy in February 2026, also presents on the channel [4][6]. Other figures with Reform connections who appear regularly include commentator Darren Grimes and academic-turned-candidate Matt Goodwin [4].

A pattern noted in the Rusbridger report: those who sever ties with Reform UK may find their GB News appearances dry up. Ben Habib, a former co-deputy leader of Reform, told investigators he had featured up to three times a week while holding the party role, but "hasn't been asked on since he left" [4].

Source: Companies House filings / The Nerve

Data as of Mar 22, 2026CSV

Ofcom's Regulatory Retreat

The regulator's trajectory over the past two years tells a story of diminishing enforcement.

October 2024: Ofcom fined GB News £100,000 for breaching Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code over People's Forum: The Prime Minister, a live programme broadcast on 12 February 2024 [7]. Ofcom found that then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had received "a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election" [7]. The fine was the first financial penalty ever imposed on GB News.

February 2025: The High Court quashed two Ofcom decisions finding that GB News's use of Jacob Rees-Mogg as a presenter breached the Broadcasting Code [8]. The judgment in GB News Limited v OFCOM [2025] EWHC 460 was the first successful judicial review of Ofcom's application of the Broadcasting Code [8]. The court ruled that Ofcom had applied its rules too rigidly.

March 2025: Following the High Court defeat, Ofcom discontinued all remaining impartiality investigations into programmes presented by politicians — including those involving Farage on GB News, Foreign Secretary David Lammy on LBC, and former Reform deputy leader David Bull on TalkTV [8].

October 2025: Ofcom tightened its guidance on politicians presenting news programmes, but the updated rules stopped well short of banning the practice [9].

2024–2025 complaints record: Ofcom received 46 complaints about GB News during this period, yet upheld zero breaches [2]. The regulator attributed this to GB News being "broadly compliant" — a characterisation that the Rusbridger investigation directly challenged [2].

Rusbridger's assessment of the regulator was blunt: "There is no evidence [Ofcom] is proactively doing the job the government, and the public, demand of it" [3]. Banatvala, the former Ofcom standards director, went further: "This was a test case for how Ofcom regulates broadcasters on due impartiality. It has failed that test" [3].

What Ofcom Can Do — In Theory

Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom holds a range of statutory sanctions for broadcasters that violate the Broadcasting Code. These include directing a broadcaster to air a correction or statement of findings, imposing financial penalties, and — as a last resort — revoking a broadcast licence [10].

The only licence revocation for reasons related to impartiality was the case of RT (formerly Russia Today). In March 2022, Ofcom revoked RT's licence after finding that its licensee, ANO TV Novosti, had committed 29 breaches of due impartiality rules in just four days of coverage during the invasion of Ukraine [10]. RT had previously been fined £200,000 for earlier impartiality violations [10]. Ofcom concluded RT was "not fit and proper" to hold a licence.

No UK-originated broadcaster has ever lost its licence over political bias. GB News's defenders point to this as evidence that the channel's output, while opinionated, does not approach the threshold for the most severe sanctions. Critics counter that the RT precedent was driven by geopolitical circumstances rather than a consistent enforcement standard, and that Ofcom's reluctance to act on domestic political bias represents a structural failure [11].

The enforcement timeline for any new action would be measured in months at minimum. GB News is already challenging Ofcom's £100,000 fine through judicial review [7], and any future sanctions would face similar legal obstacles.

GB News's Defence: Viewpoint Diversity or Partisan Advocacy?

GB News and its supporters advance a straightforward argument: the channel fills a gap in British media by representing perspectives that mainstream broadcasters ignore [12].

"We provide a fresh, alternative voice outside the London media bubble," is the consistent position from GB News leadership [12]. Editorial director Michael Booker has described the channel as "Britain's number one news channel," pointing to viewership figures that show GB News averaging 99,000 viewers in February 2026 — 27% ahead of the BBC News Channel and 38% ahead of Sky News in average audience [13].

Source: BARB / Press Gazette

Data as of Mar 22, 2026CSV

From a pluralist perspective, this argument has some force. The channel's rapid audience growth — daily reach rising 19% to 1.02 million people in 2025, up from 860,000 in 2024 — suggests genuine demand for its editorial approach [13]. Its digital growth has been even more pronounced, with viewing events across social media platforms growing 230% year-on-year to 2.6 billion in 2025 [13].

Ofcom's own framework allows for this. The regulator has stated that "due impartiality" is an editorial decision that does not require "strictly impartial" or mathematically equal coverage of opposing views [2]. Over the past decade, Ofcom has adopted a more flexible interpretation, giving broadcasters room to present more partisan perspectives [12].

But the Rusbridger investigation argues there is a qualitative difference between offering underrepresented viewpoints and operating as a promotional vehicle for a specific political party. The report found only "token representation" of non-Reform viewpoints, with left-leaning panellists frequently interrupted while Reform-aligned guests spoke uncontested [2][3]. The structural overlap — a party leader receiving £80,000 per month from a broadcaster while his MPs and candidates also hold paid presenting roles — goes beyond editorial lean, the report contends [5].

Andrew Neil, GB News's founding chairman who departed within weeks of launch, offered his own assessment in March 2026: "Just as Fox basically became the channel of Donald Trump, it's clear they have turned GB News into the Reform channel" [2].

GB News dismissed the Rusbridger findings as "fundamentally flawed" and criticised The New World's "lack of objectivity and impartiality" [1].

The Advertiser Question

GB News's financial sustainability remains uncertain despite its audience growth. The channel has reportedly lost over £131 million since its 2021 launch [14]. A sustained advertiser boycott, organised principally by the campaign group Stop Funding Hate, has seen major brands including Ikea, Nivea, and OVO Energy pull advertising [14].

In March 2026, presenter Nana Akua acknowledged the impact on air, claiming that potential advertisers were being "scared off" by human rights groups arguing the channel promotes division [15]. Stop Funding Hate launched a crowdfunder in February 2025 to intensify pressure on remaining advertisers and expand monitoring of the channel's output [14].

The advertising shortfall is covered by continued investment from Marshall and Legatum, raising a further question: if the channel cannot sustain itself commercially, what motivates its owners to absorb hundreds of millions in losses? Critics argue the answer is political influence — that GB News functions less as a commercial media venture than as infrastructure for a political project [5].

What Happens Next

The Rusbridger report has already entered parliamentary debate. The New World's investigation was raised at Prime Minister's Questions in March 2026 [16], and pressure is building on Ofcom to respond to the specific findings.

But the regulator faces structural constraints. Its High Court defeat in February 2025 narrowed its ability to police politician-presenters [8]. Its updated guidance from October 2025 sets new expectations but lacks enforcement teeth [9]. And GB News's willingness to pursue judicial review — as it is doing with the £100,000 People's Forum fine — means any future sanctions face protracted legal challenge [7].

The Good Law Project, a legal campaign organisation, has also pressed Ofcom to take action, arguing that the regulator "must keep GB News in check" [11]. Whether that pressure produces results depends on Ofcom's appetite for another courtroom confrontation with a well-funded opponent.

Meanwhile, GB News continues to grow. Its audience is expanding, its digital reach is surging, and Reform UK's poll numbers have risen alongside the channel's prominence. Whether this represents a healthy diversification of British media or the emergence of a party-political broadcast operation operating under a regulatory framework designed for a different era is the central question — and one that Ofcom, by its own actions and inactions, has so far declined to answer.