It helped being Northern, says Dimbleby’s successor

THE new presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions? has suggested his Northern accent helped get him the job.

Chris Mason’s Yorkshire timbre is a marked change from the clipped pronunciation of his predecessor, Jonathan Dimbleby, 75.

He said it was “absolutely absurd” that there are so few regional voices in television and radio news.

Mason, 39, a political correspondent for the BBC, was considered by some to be a surprise choice to host the Friday evening debating programme.

But he told Radio Times: “I think it’s probably been an advantage to me because I have come of age journalistically in an era where there’s a far greater awareness that the BBC in particular, and broadcasting in general, needs to sound like the audience it’s broadcasting to.

“I think there could be a far broader range of voices than we hear on the national media. When have you ever heard on a news programme somebody with a West Country accent? How many people with a Brummie accent? Or a Geordie accent? There’s hardly any. It’s absolutely absurd.”

Mason, who describes himself as an “incredibly proud Yorkshire Dalesman”, grew up in Grassington and Skipton, North Yorkshire, before attending Cambridge University and joining the BBC in 2002.

Announcing his appointment earlier this year, the broadcaster said Mason “approaches Westminster with the eye of an outsider, which makes him well placed to connect with audiences around the country”.