The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been plunged into fresh turmoil following the abrupt resignation of board member Shumeet Banerji, who cited deep concerns about governance at the organization. Banerji’s departure, confirmed by the BBC on November 22, 2025, comes just weeks before the scheduled end of his four-year term and only days ahead of a critical parliamentary committee hearing where board members are set to be questioned about the corporation’s ongoing crisis.
Banerji’s resignation is the latest blow to the broadcaster, which has been reeling from a series of high-profile exits. Earlier this month, both director general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness resigned on November 9, 2025, amid mounting criticism of the BBC’s handling of political coverage—specifically, its controversial editing of a Donald Trump speech in a Panorama documentary aired in October 2024. According to BBC News, Banerji revealed in his resignation letter that he was not consulted on key developments surrounding these departures, further fueling his dissatisfaction with the organization’s governance practices.
The Panorama documentary at the heart of the controversy, titled Trump: A Second Chance?, was broadcast just days before Trump secured re-election. The program edited footage from Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech, combining two separate lines delivered nearly an hour apart. The sequence created the impression that Trump urged supporters to “fight like hell” while heading towards the U.S. Capitol, a moment already fraught with tension as the Capitol riot unfolded. Trump and his allies have vigorously argued that the edit was misleading, stripping away crucial context in which he also told the crowd to act “peacefully and patriotically” and to “cheer on our brave senators and Congressmen and women.”
Facing a growing backlash, the BBC issued a public apology on November 13, 2025, for the editing but maintained that there was “no legal basis” for Trump to sue for defamation. According to the Associated Press, the broadcaster insisted that while mistakes had been made, its legal position remained firm. Nevertheless, the apology did little to stem the tide of criticism, and the incident has only intensified scrutiny of the BBC at a time when it is already grappling with accusations of internal bias, exacerbated by the leak of an internal memo.
Banerji’s exit is particularly notable for its timing. He resigned just three days before other board members, including chair Samir Shah, are due to appear before the Culture Media and Sport Committee, a parliamentary panel that has voiced reservations about Shah’s qualifications since his appointment as chair last year. As reported by BBC News, Banerji was known internally to be frustrated with Shah’s perceived weakness in challenging other board members who assert that BBC News suffers from systemic bias—specifically, a tendency toward liberal groupthink. Shah, along with Davie and Turness, has publicly rejected the notion that the BBC is institutionally biased, instead emphasizing the corporation’s longstanding commitment to impartiality and trustworthiness.
“The BBC News DNA and culture is to be impartial, to provide the best news we can and the most trustworthy news we can,” Shah told BBC News after the resignations of Davie and Turness. Yet, according to insiders cited by BBC News, the board remains deeply divided. Four political appointees are said to have coalesced around the view that bias is endemic at BBC News, while others—including Shah—have struggled to forge consensus. As one senior TV executive put it, “this board is melting down, it’s very sad… It’s a leadership issue.”
The resignation has also reignited speculation about the future of Shah’s leadership. Sir Craig Oliver, a former editor of the BBC’s flagship news programs and later a senior government communications official, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “the stakes were already high for Samir Shah and they just got even higher.” He added that Shah would face tough questions from MPs about his handling of the Panorama controversy and the fallout from the leaked internal report by Michael Prescott, which was published by The Telegraph. “All eyes are going to be on Samir Shah on Monday,” Oliver remarked, referencing the impending committee appearance.
Political pressure is mounting from outside the organization as well. Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has publicly called on the government to remove Sir Robbie Gibb—a former BBC executive and Downing Street communications chief under Theresa May—from the board, citing concerns about impartiality and the board’s direction. Meanwhile, some observers have floated the idea that the recent events amount to a “coup” by certain board members, though Shah has dismissed such claims as “fanciful” and “disrespectful.”
Despite the chaos, there is little appetite among insiders for further leadership changes at the very top. “You can’t have the DG, the CEO of News and the chair all resign,” one source told BBC News, suggesting that Shah is likely to remain in his role for now—albeit under intense scrutiny from both parliament and the public. The upcoming Culture Media and Sport Committee hearing, scheduled for November 24, promises to be a pivotal moment for the broadcaster as MPs grill Shah, Gibb, and Caroline Thomson about the board’s handling of recent crises.
The wider implications of the current turmoil extend beyond the BBC’s internal politics. The Panorama documentary’s editing choices have become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate about media impartiality, political influence, and the responsibilities of public broadcasters in an era of polarized discourse. While the BBC remains the most trusted source of news in the UK, according to multiple surveys, the recent scandals have left its reputation battered and its leadership under siege.
For now, the BBC faces a daunting task: restoring confidence among its staff, audiences, and stakeholders while navigating a period of unprecedented scrutiny. As the corporation’s board prepares to face MPs, the future direction of one of Britain’s most significant institutions hangs in the balance.
The coming days will test not only the resilience of the BBC’s leadership but also the strength of its founding principles—impartiality, transparency, and public trust. Whether the broadcaster can emerge from this crisis with its reputation intact remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the eyes of the nation, and indeed the world, are watching closely.
