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BBC crisis: Shumeet Banerji resigns after leadership chaos!
On November 21, 2025, Shumeet Banerji resigned from the BBC supervisory board after criticism of the leadership was voiced.
BBC crisis: Shumeet Banerji resigns after leadership chaos!
The resignation of Shumeet Banerji, a BBC board member, marks another major blow for the broadcaster, which is facing intense criticism of its leadership. Banerji, who has been part of the BBC board since January 2022, said he was not consulted over the resignations of director general Tim Davie and BBC news chief Deborah Turness. This resignation was confirmed by a BBC spokesman on Friday.
Davie and Turness resigned from their positions at the beginning of November after the BBC came under fire for an edited report on the program “Panorama”. The post cropped parts of a speech by Donald Trump, which gave the wrong impression. The BBC acknowledged that the edited image gave the impression that Trump had incited violence on the day of the Capitol storm. Trump himself then threatened to sue for libel and demanded financial compensation, which the BBC refused.
Board crisis and governance issues
Banerji cited “governance issues” within the BBC board as the reason for his resignation. His decision is interpreted as criticism of chairman Samir Shah and other board members. Shah and fellow board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson are due to give evidence to Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the near future. This comes in a context where questions have been raised about political appointments within the BBC board, which includes five political appointees.
Additionally, an internal document has emerged suggesting that the BBC has “systemic problems” in its reporting, particularly around the Israel-Gaza conflict and gender and sexuality issues. However, these allegations were denied by Turness and Davie.
Political identity and crisis of trust
The BBC's problems are not just a question of governance, but are also closely linked to its political perception. A study of 11,170 people between December 2022 and June 2024 shows significant differences in BBC trust ratings depending on political affiliation. Suggestions from the survey are:
| Political affiliation | Average trust score |
|---|---|
| Liberal Democrat voters | 4.54 |
| Labor voters | 3.88 |
| Conservative voter | 3.17 |
| Brexit Party voters | 2.16 |
This discrepancy shows that perceptions of the trust in the BBC are highly polarized. While British audiences are becoming increasingly skeptical, in other countries such as Japan, broadcasters enjoy higher levels of political loyalty. In the current context, the BBC is seen as a symbolic battleground in the UK's culture wars, with conservative voters often perceiving it as metropolitan and liberal.
While the resignation of significant senior figures may appear to solve the problems, it does not resolve deeper questions about the BBC's legitimacy and perception. To maintain its status as a public broadcaster in a divided society, the BBC urgently needs to work on its external image while regaining its credibility within the various political camps, as Brunel University reports.
Overall, the BBC faces a major challenge in redefining its strategic direction and trust in its reporting while navigating a rapidly changing political climate, according to BBC and exxpress.