BBC To Face Vote Rigging Investigation?

1 month ago 16th Oct 13:00

The BBC could face a vote rigging investigation after it emerged a 'Blue Peter' competition winner's father is a programming chief at the broadcaster.

Florence Jackson beat 17,000 other entrants in a competition to design a new 50 pence coin to be issued at the time of the 2012 Olympics, run by the children's show in conjunction with the Royal Mint.

It has since emerged that Florence's father, Andrew Jackson is a former BBC reporter who is now head of the broadcaster's Natural History Unit (NHU).

Andrew's appointment to the unit was made on July 6, but he is not due to start work until the end of this month. The winning design was chosen from anonymous entries by a panel of judges on July 16.

The competition closed in March, before any discussion between the NHU and Andrew Jackson. The eventual winner was selected as a finalist in May.

The BBC denies any wrongdoing, saying entries for the competition had closed in March.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster told The Sun Newspaper: "Any suggestion that anyone at the BBC could have had undue influence on the selection of the winning entry is totally wrong and without any foundation whatsoever.

"The competition closed in March, before any discussion between the NHU and Andrew Jackson. The eventual winner was selected as a finalist in May."

BBC guidelines say competitions are open to all UK residents, except those closely related to a BBC staff member or anyone involved in the competition.

Florence is the first child ever to design a coin in the UK.

When asked to clarify when, or if, Mr Jackson had told 'Blue Peter' about his relationship with competition winner Florence, nine, a BBC spokesman told The Daily Mail newspaper: "We have no reason to believe Blue Peter knew before last week."