Summary:
Diane Coyle, the deputy chairman of the BBC Trust, is working as an aide to the shadow business secretary.

Full article:
By . Mail On Sunday Reporter . Updated: . 10:18 EST, 30 October 2011 . The BBC was last night at the centre of a row over political bias after it was revealed that the vice-chair of its governing trust is advising the Labour Party. Diane Coyle, deputy to chairman Chris Patten, is working as an aide to shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna – despite official guidance that warned her accepting the job could be inappropriate. Ms Coyle, an economist, is paid £77,005 to work two-and-a-half days a week for the BBC Trust. Inappropriate? Diane Coyle (left) is working as an aide to Chuka Umunna (right) On February 25 she informed trust director Nicholas Kroll that she had accepted the unpaid political job. But in an email written two days later, Phil Harrold, BBC Trust Head of Governance, which advises trust members on all matters relating to their jobs, told Mr Kroll: ‘This could potentially be a significant partisan political activity.’ Tory MP Philip Davies, a member of the Commons media select committee, said:‘I’m not a big fan of political appointments to the BBC. I voted against Chris Patten becoming BBC Trust chairman because I thought him an inappropriate choice and it is the same with his deputy.’ A BBC Trust spokesman said: ‘There is a clear, published code of practice in place which applies to all trustees.’