People are solely simply realising a BBC Newsround star is Reform UK’s deputy chief

Newsround viewers may have seen a familiar face watching election coverage this week – as the Deputy Leader of Reform UK was a regular on the show.

Dr David Bull joined Newsround as a health reporter in 1996 after training as a doctor. The politician – and now Talk TV presenter – has spoken about it being an “honour” to have worked on the BBC programme, which he has described as “the show I cut my teeth on”.

He broadcasting career first started in 1995 as an on-screen doctor for Sky TV giving people advice to people travelling abroad. He qualified as a physician in 1993 from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. He went to present other BBC kids shows, before joining BBC’s Watchdog to present its Healthcheck spin-off. His presenting credits also include Most Haunted Live and Hospital Live.

After seeing Dr Bull as part of this week’s election coverage, viewers pointed out on social media that they recognised him from TV. One said: “Does anyone remember when Dr David Bull was on Newsround?” Another said: “Remember when David Bull just used to be a Dr on CBBC and Newsround.”

After his years as a TV doctor, Dr Bull turned to politics. He was selected as Tory candidate for Brighton Pavilion but stood down in 2009 before the election to head up a Conservative policy review on sexual health with Anne Milton, the shadow health minister. In 2019, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament and served until the UK left the EU. Since 2023, he has been Reform UK’s Deputy leader and health spokesman.

In his role for Nigel Farage’s party, Dr Bull has spearheaded health policy. But the party’s manifesto, which includes £140billion-a-year worth of tax cuts and public spending, was torn to shreds by economists, who warned the sums don’t add up. Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said Reform’s spending splurge would “require much more than a crackdown on waste; it would almost certainly require substantial cuts to the quantity or quality of public services”.

Reform UK has pledged to eliminate NHS waiting lists in two years, with a cash injection of £17billion a year for health. The party would give patients a voucher for a private GP if they haven’t been seen in three days, three weeks for a consultant or nine weeks for an operation. The service would still be free at the point of use.

But experts pointed out NHS waiting lists have never been eliminated since it was founded in 1948 – and numbers have ballooned since the pandemic. Plus the IFS said the £17billion committed to their NHS plans was not nearly enough to meet this commitment.

Reform have also promised to freeze “all non essential immigration” and hike National Insurance for businesses that employ foreign workers to 20%, except for essential health and care workers and for businesses with fewer than five employees. But it is unclear what the party means by “essential” with fears raised that its measures could impact health and care sectors that are already stuck in a staffing crisis.