BBC viewers were left seething after Fiona Bruce seemed to flout her own guidelines mere moments into the Question Time Leaders special.

The anchor was at the helm of the two-hour show on Thursday, where a live audience put Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer, Sir Ed Davey, and John Swinney MSP through their paces. This came after a series of debates on ITV and Sky News leading up to the General Election on July 4, with politicians pushing their party manifestos.

However, viewers were sidetracked by Bruce’s interjections, with a flurry of complaints that she was ‘interrupting’ despite earlier assurances.

Right off the bat, Bruce introduced Lib Dem boss Sir Ed, stating: “Just to say that our rules here are pretty simple. For every leader they are the same. You won’t get interrupted if you keep your questions reasonably brief, and you actually answer the question. My job here is to keep you to the point,’ she added, before diving into the first query.”

Viewers accused Fiona of breaking her own pledge ( 
Image:
BBC)

Despite making the demand, it wasn’t long before spectators accused her of not adhering to her own rules. One X user quipped: “@bbcquestiontime Fiona Bruce’s pledge not to interrupt is going well.”

Meanwhile, another remarked: “Introductory comments from Fiona Bruce: “You won’t be interrupted if you answer the question concisely”. Almost immediately she’s interrupting Ed Davey, and continues to interrupt. Please, please, please ask her to stop interrupting. We want to hear the politicians, not FB.”

Someone else agreed as they shared: “I thought Fiona Bruce’s job was to facilitate the audience and enable a debate led by the audience Not, to continuously interrupt, make snide comments and become the focus of the show.”

While another aggravated viewer voiced his exasperation saying: “Fiona Bruce, introducing Ed Davey, says “You won’t be interrupted” then proceeds to interrupt him throughout his attempts to answer questions. She’s the worst host imaginable.”

Earlier, Bruce received accolades for her ‘brutal’ shutdown of Nigel Farage during Question Time. The Reform Party honorary president, aged 60, faced BBC presenter’s query on why he was so prevalent in media for the party’s election campaign despite not contesting as an MP.

His retort: “Don’t ask me, you invited me on the show.” However, Bruce hit back with a zinger, stating: ‘We actually asked Lee Anderson but he wasn’t available to come on.”