Petition · past parliament

Make it illegal for any Government to appoint Directors to the BBC Board.

Rejected 20 signatures

What the petition asks

The BBC should be totally independent from Government influencing its editorial content or the types of programmes it makes.

Any Directors or Chairs of BBC should be appointed by a transparent process using a public commissioner completely independent from the Prime Minister or Culture Minister.
"The job of the BBC is to speak truth to power.

It is a public broadcaster, not a state broadcaster.

It is not the Government's BBC, it's the public's BBC"

Peter Kosminsky at the 2016 BAFTAs
See : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36245724

BBC licence fee money is money the public gives to the BBC to make programmes and content. It may not be top-sliced by Government for its own initiatives or given to any other broadcaster or newspaper.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

13 May 2016 Petition opened for signatures
16 May 2016 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 20
Status Rejected
Rejected 16 May 2016

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.