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!