David Dimbleby says Jeremy Corbyn has not had a ‘fair deal’ from the press Veteran BBC host David Dimbleby has blasted the “lazy pessimism” of the media’s election coverage, and said Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn […]

Veteran BBC host David Dimbleby has blasted the “lazy pessimism” of the media’s election coverage, and said Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn has not had a “fair deal” from the press.

The 78-year-old chair of Question Time, who will host the BBC’s election night coverage, said Mr Corbyn has “a lot of support in the country”, and given the “political somersaults” of recent years it would be a mistake to count Labour out.

‘A right-wing press’

“It’s a very odd election,” said Mr Dimbleby, speaking to the Radio Times. “If the Conservative story is how Theresa May is the ‘brand leader’, the interesting thing is that a lot of Labour supporters really like and believe in the messages that Jeremy Corbyn is bringing across.

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“It’s not his MPs in the House of Commons necessarily, but there is a lot of support in the country.

“And I don’t think anyone could say that Corbyn has had a fair deal at the hands of the press, in a way that the Labour Party did when it was more to the centre, but then we generally have a right-wing press.”

‘Lazy pessimism’

He added: “My own prediction is that, contrary to the scepticism and lazy pessimism of the newspapers and the British media, it’s going to be a really fascinating night, and it will drive home some messages about our political system and the political appeal of different parties that no amount of polling or reading the papers will tell us.”

Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have long complained of media bias from liberal as well as conservative outlets, blaming his poor approval ratings on unfair coverage.

Exit poll is starting gun

Mr Dimbleby also played down the importance of opinion polls, saying elections were exciting because you find out what people really think.

“Polls? You can have them until the cows come home”, he said. “For me, the exit poll is the starting gun for a political rollercoaster ride, and a night of thrills and spills.”