‘Am I allowed to be this gleeful?’: BBC News presenter sparks fury after ignoring impartiality rules to share her delight after Boris Johnson pulled out of Tory leadership race

• Martine Croxall sparks fury for her comments about Mr Johnson pulling out race
• The beaming BBC presenter told viewers of The Papers that she was ‘gleeful’
• It came moments after Mr Johnson said he was quitting Tory leadership contest 
• Viewers are now calling for action from regulators over BBC’s ‘outrageous bias’  

A BBC presenter has sparked fury after appearing to jubilantly celebrate Boris Johnson quitting in the race to become the next Tory leader, saying: ‘Am I allowed to be this gleeful? Well, I am.’

Outraged viewers are demanding action from regulator Ofcom over the comments by Martine Croxall on the BBC The Papers show last night, as the broadcasting giant faces fresh questions about the impartiality of its reporters. 

The show aired minutes after Mr Johnson took the political world by surprise, announcing he was dropping out the running to be the next PM – despite having claimed to have had more than 100 MPs in his court.  

Mr Johnson’s unexpected departure led to a furious scramble by the papers, who were forced to rip up their frontpages shortly after 9pm. 

And after the announcement was made, a clearly euphoric Ms Croxall took to the air and introduced her show, saying with a beaming smile: ‘Well, this is all very exciting isn’t it. Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. Am I allowed to be this gleeful? Well, I am.’   

Jubilant: Martine Croxall wore a beaming smile as she declared she asked if she was ‘allowed to be this gleeful’ during last night’s The Papers programme on the BBC

The comments came just minutes after Boris Johnson shocked the political world by announcing he was pulling out the Tory leadership race. Pictured arriving at Gatwick on Saturday

A clip of the presenter’s comments has since gone viral and sparked a furious backlash on social media – with some calling for the 53-year-old journalist to be sacked. 

One person on Twitter said: ‘#MartineCroxall is absolutely disgusting. The #BBC is supposed to be impartial at all times. We all know the corporation is full to the brim of left-wing whackos, but now they don’t even try to hide it.’

Others questioned the bias of the BBC’s reporters, with one user writing: ‘Martine Croxall of BBC News shows her bias when surely a newsreader should be impartial. Unfit for the job.’

Another furious social media user tweeted: ‘Martine Croxall is rightly being pilloried for this partisan display of giddy excitement as News broke of Boris Johnson dropping out of the Leadership contest. This lapse of impartiality and professionalism illustrates why so many accuse the BBC of bias.’

‘Martine Croxall – awful bloody woman, just another very good reason to defund the BBC,’ added another man.

Some on social media launched a campaign to complain directly to the BBC while others said they had reported Mrs Croxall’s comments to Ofcom. 

Later in the programme, the presenter forgot to put her microphone on, with viewers left struggling to hear her introduction to the newspaper review programme.

Ms Croxall never commented on specifically what she was ‘gleeful’ about during the introduction of her show.  

The BBC is yet to make a statement about Mrs Croxall’s action and has been approached by MailOnline for comment. 

Earlier this year, senior Conservatives lashed out at the BBC and accused the corporation of ‘outrageous’ bias over its coverage of Mr Johnson’s apology to MPs for the Downing Street lockdown party. 

They were incensed at television news and the Today programme on Radio 4, accusing both programmes of allowing an openly anti-Johnson agenda to dominate.

Ms Croxall has previously appeared on Celebrity Mastermind 

A Whitehall insider called the BBC’s coverage of the former Prime Minister’s statement in January ‘unbearable’, adding: ‘It feels like the BBC isn’t going to stop until he’s gone. Wednesday night’s News at Ten was extraordinary but Today was even worse.’ 

Tories angrily pointed to a series of barbed comments from Today presenter Nick Robinson as examples of bias.

They were infuriated when he sneeringly asked whether Mr Johnson’s apology ‘really was an apology’.

Mr Robinson, interviewing Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis, said ‘most people’ thought the Prime Minister was only saying sorry because he had been caught.

And, during the heated exchange, Mr Robinson said the PM’s focus had ‘always been on blaming other people for his behaviour’.

When he had introduced the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Robinson said Mr Lewis was there to ‘try to defend’ the PM. 

Tories angrily pointed to a series of barbed comments from Today presenter Nick Robinson (pictured) as examples of bias

Conservative MP Richard Holden said: ‘When a BBC interviewer interrupts 32 times in ten minutes, with questions up to 30 seconds long, people will rightly ask: is this an interview, or a diatribe of BBC bias, with a Cabinet Minister being invited in as a human piñata?’

A senior Tory backbencher said: ‘It was an overly aggressive interview. Nick Robinson kept interrupting Mr Lewis, asking the same questions. It got more and more aggressive and went on too long.

Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘This is a clear show of BBC bias but I am afraid the BBC are regularly promoting their own political agenda rather than being an independent broadcaster as they’re supposed to be.

‘Whether it’s the Prime Minister or Brexit, they are pushing a particular line.’

Conservatives pointed out that while the Cabinet and senior figures had backed Mr Johnson, the BBC had spent much of the day giving a platform to often minor figures calling on him to resign.

They see it as another example of Left-of-centre ‘group-think’ at the BBC, which Tim Davie, the director general, has vowed to root out in the aftermath of controversies, including one-sided Brexit coverage.

MailOnline has approached Ofcom for comment about Ms Croxall’s statements last night.

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