Outgoing BBC News boss ‘will press ahead with hiring ex-editor who slated Tories and Brexit’

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The outgoing director of BBC news is set to press ahead with the controversial appointment of Jess Brammar to a top news role despite concerns about her impartiality.

Fran Unsworth, who announced she is stepping down from the corporation this week, will appoint Brammar, the editor of Huffpost UK and former deputy editor of Newsnight, in one of her final acts in the job, sources say.

Brammar, who enjoys a large following on Twitter and often tweeted critically about the government and Brexit, will take on a new role overseeing the BBC’s news channels.

An announcement of her appointment will come ‘quite soon’, BBC sources told The Times.

Rumours about Brammar joining the BBC sparked a row about the broadcaster’s impartiality, with a number of ministers and Conservative figures speaking out against the move.

Sir Robbie Gibb, a BBC board member who was head of political programmes and later worked as Theresa May’s director of communications, warned Unsworth she ‘cannot make this appointment’ because the Government’s ‘fragile trust in the BBC will be shattered’.

Meanwhile Jacob Rees-Mogg said earlier this summer: ‘People like Laura Kuenssberg make their professional reputations on being completely impartial. 

‘Then the BBC management goes off and starts suggesting it should hire someone from a left-wing outlet, and that damages the whole perception of independence and impartiality at the BBC.’

Insiders at the broadcaster had speculated Unsworth would back down amid the criticism but their concerns now appear unfounded. 

Unsworth, who was on £342,000 a year, will leave the BBC news team in January amid a period of crisis, with 250 jobs set to be slashed as it is revamped.

She was appointed to her current role in January 2018 and has worked at the BBC for more than four decades, having started her career in 1980 with Radio 1’s Newsbeat.

The 63-year-old was in charge in some of the BBC’s most humiliating moments, having been held responsible for airing the police raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s home.

The decision in 2014 cost the broadcaster £2million after the singer won his privacy case against the corporation.

On her exit, Unsworth said: ‘After more than 40 years with the BBC, I have decided that the time is right for me to hand on the job of leading the world’s best news organisation.

‘I have had a ringside seat at some momentous events, including the Falklands War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, wars in the Middle East, the death of Princess Diana, 9/11 and countless general elections. It has been a great privilege.

‘The jobs I’ve done have not always been easy. Undoubtedly, some were more fun than others.

‘But I am proud to have done all of them – and to work for an organisation which has such a vital and precious role in the UK and around the world.

‘The BBC is free of commercial and proprietorial pressure. Our bosses are the audiences we serve. I am honoured to have been be part of it.

‘I leave BBC News in the hands of an incredibly strong team which is committed to remaining at the forefront of the world’s journalism.

‘Through them, the BBC will be as relevant as it has been for the last 100 years. I am proud to have served BBC News and our audiences.’

Unsworth’s previous roles have included BBC home news editor, head of political programmes and head of newsgathering.

She was the BBC’s acting director of news and current affairs for periods between 2012 and 2013.

And she became the first female director of the BBC World Service Group in 2014, overseeing the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s.

But she has also seen huge controversy in her career, most recently regarding the Brammar fall out.

Relations between No 10 plunged into turmoil after the BBC ignored opposition to the appointment of the left-wing journalist as head of its news channels.

Brammar has posted a series of now-deleted tweets critical of Boris Johnson, Brexit and Britain’s Empire.

Brammar, 38, promoted controversial opinions while she was working for the Huffington Post.

These included an article suggesting black people would leave the UK if Boris Johnson was re-elected in 2019.

She also described Brexit as being like a popular TV comedy drama but ‘less funny’.

She has since deleted 16,000 posts, including calling ‘woke’ a ‘dogwhistle’ phrase and promoting a job ad from one of her own staff for only ‘non-binary’ applicants.

Unsworth has been defiant over the row, with her saying BBC management were in charge of hiring people.

She claimed it was ‘an independent process which is free from any corporate interest’.

She added BBC News must ‘withstand any kind of pressure that comes from anywhere’, in a thinly-veiled stab at the government.

Brammer’s partner James Waterson, who is media editor of the Guardian, was first to report Unsworth’s resigning.

He tweeted: ‘Now comes a contest to succeed her and shape BBC News for years to come.

‘I’m sure the government will have absolutely no views on the appointment process and keep out for reasons of editorial independence!’

Unsworth was also in hot water over the Sir Cliff affair, which saw the BBC fork out £2million during his privacy case against the corporation.

Unsworth said after the High Court judgment in 2018: ‘In retrospect, there are things we would have done differently.’

Another row involving the corporation boss saw her face off with Victoria Derbyshire over cancelling the star presenter’s eponymous show.

Derbyshire confronted the chief of BBC News, asking if bosses had lied to her about the axing of her BBC Two current affairs programme.

The 52-year-old presenter asked Unsworth if they had lied to her and her team about the show’s goals.

Unsworth was forced to apologise about the programme being cut, but added: ‘I’m paid to make really difficult decisions about this.’

She leaves the corporation at a time when hundreds of staff are losing their jobs in a reshuffle.

About 250 are facing the sack as the BBC plans to ‘modernise’ and respond to changing audiences. 

BBC Director-General Tim Davie said Unsworth had, throughout her career, ’embodied the values of BBC News’.

‘She is a world-class journalist and is respected and admired by colleagues across the BBC,’ he said.

‘Fran has taken BBC News through one of the most testing periods in its history, providing a vital service during the Covid-19 pandemic, when record audiences turned to BBC News.

‘She has led BBC coverage during a period of momentous events at home and abroad, alongside leading a huge modernisation programme to reshape BBC News.

‘Before this, as its director, she oversaw the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s, which has proved a major boost to international coverage at a time of great international need.

‘Fran has been a hugely valued member of the BBC’s executive committee and the BBC board. She will be greatly missed by everyone at the BBC.’

Unsworth was born in Stoke and went to St Dominic’s High School for Girls there from 1969 to 1974.

On finishing, she went to Manchester University where she studied drama, but did not get into a drama school so moved into publishing.

She started journalism in local radio at BBC Radio Leicester and BBC Radio Bristol before becoming a producer for Newsbeat.

She moved to Radio 4 in 1990 – based in Washington DC for the Gulf War – before turning to newsgathering in 1993.

She was a producer and editor for BBC One O’Clock News and BBC Six O’Clock News before being made head of newsgathering in 2005.

Unsworth moved to acting director of news in 2012 but was made deputy director of news and current affairs a year later.

She will leave her current role as director of news and current affairs at the end of January.

Jamie Angus, the controller of BBC News output and commissioning, and former Radio 4 Today programme boss, is tipped for her job.