Lord Alan Sugar has blasted the Conservative party for putting pressure on the BBC to delay his show. Sugar’s Apprentice reality TV show usually airs in March, however due to his new role as ‘Business Tsar’ and possible conflicts with the 2010 general election, the BBC have pushed it back to June next year.

Lord Sugar told The Mirror: “They’ve delayed it for some political reason which is a bit of a joke in my opinion.

“Somebody from the Tory party complained to the BBC about me being an adviser to the Government and the result is that the television programme can’t be transmitted until the General Election is over.

“It is very frustrating because the programme itself has got nothing in it that is political at all, but unfortunately the BBC are frightened of the Tory party.

“They’ve been bullied by the Tory party and they can’t stand up to common sense.”

Fan of BBC’s reality TV show The Apprentice, will be disappointed to hear that the show has been moved from its normal March slot to June of 2010.

The scheduling change took place because of Alan Sugar’s role as Gordon Brown’s enterprise tsar. The BBC can’t take the risk of the show colliding with a British general election due to rules of impartiality.

An Apprentice insider told The Sun: “We’re disappointed. March is a good time for us because it’s the main reality show then. Bosses are worried fewer people will tune in over summer.”

The BBC have replaced Sir Alan Sugar’s right hand woman, Margaret Mountford with Karren Brady .

Mountford announced her decision to leave The Apprentice during the last series of the show, claiming that she wanted to dedicate more time to academic studies.

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Brady is currently the chief executive of Birmingham City Football Club and is already familiar with the show, having been chosen as team leader on a celebrity version back in March 2006. She also takes part in the interview round of each series, putting contestants through their paces and reporting back to Sir Alan.

“Lord Sugar has decided to appoint Karren Brady, who has appeared in The Apprentice before,” a Talkback Thames spokeswoman said.

As if a year wasn’t long enough to wait for the next series of The Apprentice, the BBC may be forced to postpone their 2010 season due to impartiality worries.

Sir Alan Sugar has become Lord Alan Sugar after he was made a Labour peer and now takes his place as the government’s newly-appointed enterprise champion.

After Sugar’s new role was made public, the BBC were inundated with complaints that his government position could affect their political impartiality. While the BBC trust feel there has been no breach, they do admit that it may be unwise to air the next season close in the months leading up to a general election.

Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said: “Questions have been raised about the dual role played by Lord Sugar, as star of the BBC’s The Apprentice while also a Labour peer advising the government as enterprise champion.

“The trust’s editorial standards committee has judged that there has been no breach of the BBC editorial guidelines.”

The trust added that, when scheduling next year’s series of the main Apprentice and The Junior Apprentice, the BBC “must give due consideration to the implications of showing the programmes in the months immediately before a general election”.

The elction has to take place by June 2010, so feasibly we could be waiting until July or August for our next Apprentice fix. How very devastating!

Sir Alan Sugar will be back for next years series of The Apprentice and his new role of Government adviser will “not compromise the BBC’s impartiality”, the BBC said.

Sir Alan said: “I am passionate about business and enterprise and that has always been my motivation for wanting to take on this role.

“I am glad that following detailed discussions, the BBC is satisfied that I will not be doing anything to affect its commitment to impartiality.”

In a statement the BBC said: “Following detailed discussions with Sir Alan Sugar, the BBC is satisfied that his new role as an Enterprise Champion to the Government will not compromise the BBC’s impartiality or his ability to present The Apprentice.

“Sir Alan is not going to be making policy for the Government nor does he have a duty to endorse Government policy.

“Moreover, Sir Alan has agreed that he will suspend all public facing activity relating to this unpaid post in the lead up to and during any shows that he is presenting on the BBC.”

We recently wrote that Margaret Mountford was leaving The Apprentice and today is has been reported that soccer boss Karren Brady, is favourite to take over the role.

The Birmingham City managing director already participates on the show during the interview stage, when she vets the hopefuls and passes her findings back to sir Alan Sugar.

An insider told The Sun: “Karren is as astute as Margaret – but with added sex appeal.”

Sir Alan’s adviser Nick Hewer has said he would be happy if either Karren or Celebrity Apprentice contestant Michelle Mone got the job.

He said: “I like them both very much. I’d be very happy to work with either of them.”