London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2026

BBC apologises after mixing up two black MPs in Parliament

BBC apologises after mixing up two black MPs in Parliament

Labour MP Marsha de Cordova has blasted the broadcaster, saying black women are confused for one another due to structural racism.

Treasury and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch was miscaptioned as Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities Marsha de Cordova during an Urgent Question in the Commons on Monday.

A statement from the broadcaster claimed the captioner ‘took too long to realise the names were out of order on the Order Paper’.

Ms de Cordova was briefly miscaptioned as Ms Badenoch in the same broadcast – an incident that has been blamed on a time lag between the speaker and the caption changing.

Ms de Cordova has blasted the BBC, saying black women are confused for one another due to structural racism.

In a tweet, the Battersea MP said: ‘The irony that this question saw the Minister deny that structural racism exists.

‘While we’re confused for each other because there are so few Black women in Parliament…

‘This is the second time this has happened to me, broadcasters need to do better @BBCParliament’.

However, an Equality Hub spokesperson said the incident was ‘clearly an honest mistake’.

The BBC said the captioner took too long to realise the list of names on the Order Paper

The BBC blamed the second incident on a ‘time lag’


A statement sent to Metro.co.uk read: ‘This was clearly an honest mistake, for which the BBC has apologised.

‘More broadly, this Government is committed to tackling actual racism, where it exists, and following the data to understand how we can build a more cohesive society and address racial disparities.’

It comes after the BBC confused Ms de Cordova with fellow Labour MP Dawn Butler last year.

Kobe Bryant fans were also left outraged last year as BBC News at 10 confused the late star for LeBron James in coverage of his death.

The broadcaster came under fire last night from a number of people who claimed the mistake would not have happened if the MPs had been white.

A Twitter user named Pete said: ‘These things happen is not good enough. I’m proud of the BBC too which is why I hold them to account when they do something so poor as this.

‘Frankly, it would never have happened if it were two white men in debate. It shows an institutional lack of respect. Things must change.’

Someone called Ashley added: ‘It’s interesting, I’ve never seen them make this mistake with white MPs.’


A statement from the BBC’s press team said they wanted to ‘sincerely apologise for the error’.

It read: ‘An apology: earlier today on BBC Parliament we mis-captioned Kemi Badenoch as Marsha de Cordova during an Urgent Question.

‘The captioner had been following the list of names on the Order Paper but took too long to realise they were out of sequence and correct their mistake.

‘We sincerely apologise for this error and have apologised directly to both MPs involved. The corrected version will appear later this evening and on iPlayer.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
Global Critical Mineral Alliances Expand as Western Nations Move to Counter Chinese Supply Dominance
United States Imposes Fifty Percent Tariffs on Mexican Steel and Aluminum Ahead of Trade Pact Review
European Union and China Head Toward Major Trade Conflict Over Clean Technology Exports
United States Economic Growth Severely Downgraded to One Point Six Percent as Stagflation Fears Mount
World Health Organization Warns Central African Ebola Epidemic is Outpacing Containment Efforts
United States Treasury Department Conditions Sanctions Relief on Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Air Defenses Intercept and Destroy United States Military Drone Over Bushehr Province
Iranian Armed Forces Launch Ballistic Missiles Toward Unspecified Targets Prompting Regional Condemnation
United Nations Secretary-General Warns Global Order Facing Highest Level of Conflict Since 1945
Israel Issues Sweeping Evacuation Orders in Southern Lebanon Amid Intensified Hezbollah Conflict
Russia Announces Systemic Military Strikes Targeting Ukrainian Defense and Energy Infrastructure
United States and Iranian Negotiators Reach Draft Agreement to Extend Ceasefire and Resume Nuclear Talks
United Nations Security Council Deeply Divided Over United States Capture of Venezuelan President
US and Iran Exchange Direct Military Strikes Amid Fragile Gulf Ceasefire
World Health Organization Warns of Catastrophic Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
Russia Threatens New Wave of Strikes on Ukrainian Infrastructure and Embassies
Scientists Warn Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse Faster Than Projected
Anthropic Reaches $900 Billion Valuation in Historic AI Funding Round
Washington Imposes Crippling Sanctions on Iranian Maritime Authority
Japan and the Philippines Initiate Strategic Intelligence-Sharing Pact
Microsoft Deploys Autonomous Computer-Using AI Agents to Global Markets
Anthropic Secures $45 Billion Compute Infrastructure Agreement With SpaceX
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Resigns Amid Administration Shakeup
Micron Technology Crosses Trillion-Dollar Valuation Amid Unprecedented Hardware Demand
Canada and Germany Finalize Historic Long-Term LNG Export Agreement
China Expands International Travel Restrictions on Domestic AI Researchers
Japan Approves Sweeping Overhaul of National Intelligence Apparatus
Global Airlines Scramble Logistics as Middle East Airspace Remains Fractured
Japan's Naphtha Imports Plunge 47 Percent Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure
Global Crude Prices Retreat Below $96 as Gulf Tensions Momentarily Ease
Generative AI Outperforms Human Baselines in Landmark Global Creativity Study
NASA Partners With Private Aerospace to Unveil Permanent Lunar Base Architecture
South Korean Equity Markets Surge on Next-Generation Memory Chip Frenzy
×