Alastair Campbell has claimed senior BBC officials are “in the JK Rowling camp” when it comes to trans rights, following claims the organisation has a ‘pro-trans’ bias.

The 68-year-old journalist and former Labour strategist claimed he has often had “stand-up rows” with a large portion of the broadcaster’s senior staff, who he says share ‘gender-critical’ views.

It comes after BBC director general Tim Davie resigned over a leaked internal memo accusing the BBC of misleading viewers by editing a speech by US president Donald Trump.

Ex-BBC advisor Michael Prescott also claimed in the memo that the BBC was pushing a “pro trans agenda” by allegedly censoring content on LGBTQ+ issues.

Speaking with co-host and former Tory MP, Rory Stewart, during a livestream of his podcast, The Rest is Politics, Campbell said: “On transgender [people], I’ve had some stand up rows with really senior people at the BBC who are so far over in the kind of JK Rowling camp.

“And I think most young people – I’m not pretending I’m young here Rory, but I do talk to a lot of young people – I think they think on the trans issue that the BBC is the opposite of what Michael Prescott’s report is saying that it is.”

JK Rowling’s views on trans rights are well-documented and she regularly expresses her ‘gender-critical’ views online.

Criticism of BBC’s trans coverage

The BBC has, over the past few years, regularly faced criticism for its coverage of trans issues, with campaigners claiming it is institutionally anti-trans.

Most infamously was its October 2021 article spuriously claiming that cisgender lesbians were being “pressured” into having sex with trans women.

The article cites three anonymous cis women who claimed they had faced harassment for only dating “biologically female” women.

In the article, the BBC referenced a poll by gender-critical campaign group Get the L Out, which reported that 56 per cent of people had been pressured into having sex with trans women. The poll had a sample size of just eighty anonymous users on X/Twitter.

It faced further criticism in 2024 after featuring quotes from the Bayswater Support Group, an organisation infamous for its support of so-called conversion therapy.

Earlier that year, a report from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) uncovered leaked messages from Bayswater’s internal forums showing members admitting they are “abusive” towards their children.

PinkNews has contacted the BBC press office for comment.

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