“Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg” came under fire after its final episode. On Sunday’s edition of the BBC program (28 June), Victoria Derbyshire temporarily took over presenter duties in Kuenssberg’s absence. During the programme, she was interviewed by Deputy Labor Party Leader Lucy Powell, Housing Secretary Steve Reid and Conservative MP Sir James Cleverley.
The episode aired almost a week after Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation as Labor Party leader and Prime Minister. Derbyshire described Reid as one of Sir Keir’s “closest allies” before officially welcoming him to the programme. But it only took a few seconds for viewers to voice their complaints after Reid immediately addressed the stand-in presenter as “Vic”.
Throughout the interview, he repeatedly referred to the presenter as “Vic”, which caused a negative reaction from viewers who claimed that it was “ugly” and showed bias.
As for X, one wrote: “Twice during interviews with Victoria Derbyshire, Steve Reid called her ‘Vic.’ Didn’t look good for either of them and I can’t imagine Victoria Derbyshire was happy about it. It feels like it’s one big club.”
The second replied: “That’s because it’s one big club. She is paid from the same bank as in LC. If she wasn’t part of the establishment, she wouldn’t be there.”
Another said: “Surely there can’t be a single presenter or journalist at the BBC at the moment who isn’t comfortable with their bias. Many got rid of them or jumped at the chance to be fired when it was dangled like a carrot.”
A fourth wrote: “I would tell him straight. It’s rude and shows a lack of respect. It was a TV interview, not a pub conversation.”
A fifth noted: “When politicians like @SteveReedMP and others talk about other politicians’ wives or husbands, PLEASE don’t mention them by name. We don’t know them. This is not a party magazine. This is network television #bbclaurak. And for viewers it’s Victoria Derbyshire, not the Vic.”
It comes after the announcement on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg of a merger with Newsnight as part of a massive multimillion-pound cost-cutting and restructuring campaign announced by the BBC this year.