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The BBC’s main television political talk show sparked a new controversy tonight, because it arrived in Bristol but had no one representing the city’s biggest political party.

BBC Question Time is recorded tonight and broadcast on BBC1 tonight, with a guest panel from the Conservatives, Labor and Liberal Democrats, as well as a right-wing journalist and the head of Oxfam.

But Green Party figures nationally and in the city have described the program as a “gimmick” after no one from the party was invited to participate. The Green Party has the largest number of councilors elected to the City Council and one of them is the party’s national co-leader.

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The show is being recorded at around 8pm from the SGS College WISE campus in Stoke Gifford, and guests this week come from many parts of the country, as well as Bristol.

Labour’s shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry is taking part, as is Liberal Democrat Leveling Up spokeswoman Helen Morgan, who is an MP for North Shropshire.

The most local politician involved is Conservative Dr Andrew Murrison, who represents South West Wiltshire and is a junior defense minister. Fraser Nelson of The Spectator is also on the panel, as is Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of Oxfam.

Although Bristol is led by a directly elected Labor mayor, Marvin Rees, and the West of England regional authority is led by a directly elected Labor metropolitan mayor, Dan Norris, neither of whom are on the programme, the Green Party has the greatest number of councilors elected to City Council, following Hotwells & Harborside’s by-election victory earlier this year which took it to 25 councillors, one ahead of Labour.

The new Green Party councilor who won that by-election is Patrick McAllister. He said: “Imagine hosting a political panel discussion in a city where the Greens are the largest party on the council, including the party co-leader, and not inviting just one.”

Another Green Party councilor in Bristol said they were not even allowed in the audience. Cllr Ani Stafford-Townsend, who represents the Central District in Bristol, said: “I was offered a ticket and then turned away when they found out I was an active Green. We’re not even invited to be in the audience let alone.” on the board”.

Nationally, Bristol West is said to be the Green Party’s number one target seat in the upcoming general election, and its candidate is city councilor and national co-leader of the party, Carla Denyer.

Nationally, a senior Green Party figure, Ed Fraser, described the issue as “an absolute mess”, in a tweet citing the experience of another senior Green Party figure who was booked to go to Newsnight on Wednesday, but withdrew at the last minute.

“Question Time is in a constituency with 17 Green councilors tonight and they won’t have us on the show, but (they are) very happy to take our deputy leader out of Newsnight last night. Producers constantly get away with pushing us, it’s not right,” she wrote.

However, the Question Time episode is not being filmed in Bristol West, where the Greens have 17 councillors. The location of Stoke Gifford college is in the constituency of Filton and Bradley Stoke in South Gloucestershire, which has one Conservative MP in Jack Lopresti and three Conservative councilors who cover the Stoke Gifford ward in South Gloucestershire Council administered by conservatives.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Each week, Question Time aims to select a panel with a wide range of views, knowledge and experience, with panelists who are relevant to the week’s big stories or debates. We carefully consider political party representation levels and decisions are based on a number of factors, including current and past electoral support.”

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