the subject of two separate "major investigations" by BBC current affairs programme Panorama, broadcast on BBC One on 19 July 1989 and 16 May 1994. The latter was prepared and scheduled for transmission on 25 April 1994 – ahead of the local elections which took place on 5 May 1994, in the period of purdah. Conservative Central Office complained to the BBC and the programme was delayed until after the elections. A Conservative party spokesman denied that they were attempting to censor the BBC and said: "We did point out to the BBC that it seemed curious to us that a programme about a particular London borough is put out 10 days before polling day when London only votes once every four years. We understood it looked into a Conservative borough and not any Labour or Liberal Democrat boroughs." Peter Bradley, the deputy Leader of the Labour opposition on Westminster council, said: "It is extraordinary that the BBC is pulling the programme as a result of pressure from the Conservative party. If there are fresh revelations, the people of Westminster deserve to know about them before they go to the polls." Jack Straw, the Labour party's shadow environment secretary, said: "This decision smacks of great cowardice by the BBC and of improper pressure by ... ministers and Conservative Central Office." Cultural depictions In November 2009 (and repeated in October 2011), BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio play – Shirleymander – depicting the principal events of Shirley Porter's time as leader of Westminster City Council in the 1980s, in which she was played by Tracy Ann Oberman. In 2018, a stage adaptation starring Jessica Martin opened at the Playground Theatre in North Kensington, west London, ran for several weeks. See also Westminster cemeteries scandal Westminster City Council v Duke of Westminster References Further reading External links