' The BBC commissioned a programme that centred on what was projected as a 'real' political campaign. Except that it was not. It was arguably instead a publicity stunt dreamed up by Avalon. And a main purpose was to undermine and heap odium on the Farage campaign in a highly-contested and deadly serious political process.
In the event, Murray attracted only 300 votes, far less than Farage's margin of defeat. But there's no way of telling how much damage this jolly jape inflicted on the real political process that was going on in Thanet and had central importance in the General Election.
There is abundant evidence that Avalon worked flat out to court as much publicity as they could for their campaign wheeze in both the traditional and social network media. Murray had enough clout (as the Avalon programme shows) to draw the full political press pack down to Thanet for at least two major photo-calls. And company 'reporters' interviewed real people about their voting intentions. The point is that it was not clearly a spoof.
In reality, it blurred the lines of choice in a crucial election seat. And funding was from the bloated coffers of one of the country's most successful independent production companies who, in turn, were financed by BBC cash. This gave the campaign Murray considerable fire power beyond what normal candidates can afford. Some would argue this is precisely what electoral law is there to prevent.
It defies belief that any part of the the BBC (even if it was indirectly) commissioned such a programme. Effectively, they gave Murray a PR platform to ridicule the Farage campaign.'
Well colour me surprised...
The BBC actively opposing UKIP...
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