THE significant discrepancies in BBC News’s reporting on politicians’ potential breaches of the ministerial code have been revealed by new analysis from The National.

A breakdown of 143 stories mentioning the ministerial code and published on the national broadcaster’s news website in 2021 reveal that 83 articles mention the First Minister’s potential breaches, for which she has now been cleared, far exceeding any other UK politician.

In fact, BBC News reported on Nicola Sturgeon’s now discredited “breaches” of the ministerial code more than it did for all the other politicians in the UK put together.

The closest in terms of article space was Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Tory boss had just 21 pieces referencing his potential breaches of the code.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson's government 'breaks ministerial code' over ministers' earnings

Next were former health secretary Matt Hancock and current Home Secretary Priti Patel, who are each mentioned as possibly breaching the ministerial code in seven stories.

Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s potential breaches are mentioned in three stories, as were those of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Kemi Badenoch.

Jeane Freeman, the former Scottish health secretary, is mentioned in connection to a possible breach of the ministerial code once.

Freeman’s inclusion means that 84 (58%) of the 143 stories mentioning potential breaches of the ministerial code on the BBC News website were about the Scottish Government.

In contrast, just three (2%) were about Wales, and seven (5%) about the Northern Ireland executive.

The remainder were about Tory politicians or the ministerial code’s use in Westminster in general.

Of the 143 stories analysed, 17 were from the BBC’s daily round-up of newspaper front pages. A total of 13 of them were from the Scottish papers round-up and four from the UK-wide paper round-up.

Even removing these round-ups from the figures, Nicola Sturgeon remains far and away the BBC’s most scrutinised figure in UK politics in terms of her relationship with the ministerial code.

In fact, the Scottish First Minister’s potential breaches of the code were explicitly mentioned by the BBC in more UK-wide paper round-ups than Boris Johnson’s (twice against once).

The National also looked at tweets which mention the term “ministerial code” from BBC accounts.

The twitter account @BBCNews has mentioned the term three times this year, all in relation to the First Minister. @BBCPolitics has mentioned it four times, once about Hancock and three times about Johnson, and @BBCBreaking has mentioned it twice, once each for Sturgeon and Johnson.

The revelations will add credence to the belief of many in Scotland who saw the coverage of Nicola Sturgeon’s potential breaches of the code earlier in the year that UK ministers are not given the same level of scrutiny by the media.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon did not breach ministerial code, James Hamilton finds

After Nicola Sturgeon gave evidence to the so-called “Alex Salmond inquiry”, the SNP saw its membership spike by thousands, with many citing the First Minister’s treatment by the media as a reason for signing up.

Elsewhere, recent analysis from The National of the BBC’s broadcasting output showed that the UK Government is given a much easier ride in the evening news shows than its Scottish counterpart.

The research found that between August 2 and August 6 just 9% of the political stories on the News at Six was negative towards the Tory government, while 40% of those on Reporting Scotland were negative towards the SNP’s.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC takes our responsibility to hold those in power to account very seriously. We routinely scrutinise statements and stories made by politicians from all parties, across all platforms, with impartial reporting. This is reflected in all our coverage."