End of Dimbleby era as Jonathan quits BBC

JONATHAN Dimbleby is to step down from Any Questions? – marking the end of the nine- decade Dimbleby family dynasty at the BBC.

The 74-year- old said that it would be a ‘wrench to leave’ the Radio 4 programme he has hosted for more than three decades, but that the ‘time feels right’.

He will leave the programme in June. Mr Dimbleby’s elder brother, David Dimbleby, stepped down as chairman of Question Time last year, after 25 years.

Jonathan’s exit is the latest in a line of departures from the BBC by male current affairs presenters of a certain age, known within the organisation as ‘silverbacks’.

Last month, the Mail disclosed John Humphrys’ plans to quit the Today programme in the autumn.

Former PM presenter Eddie Mair, last year ended a 30-year stint at the BBC for a more lucrative job at LBC. Yesterday, staff were speculating that Jonathan Dimbleby may have come under pressure to leave the Corporation, to clear the way for a more diverse line-up of presenters.

‘At the moment, there is a lot of movement of that type of individual.

‘People have been asking the question because there was no prior talk of Jonathan Dimbleby leaving,’ a source said.

However, senior BBC figures insisted that he has simply had enough.

Mr Dimbleby has been presenting the political debate show since 1987, and travels to a new location every week. The programme, which airs every Saturday, gives members of the public a chance to put their questions to politicians and other public figures. His father Richard, as the BBC’s first war correspondent, reported on the first battle of El Alamein and the D-Day landings in Normandy.

He also covered the coronation of the Queen in 1953 and the state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965. Richard and his son David both took part in the BBC’s coverage of the 1964 General Election. David has anchored the BBC’s coverage for every General Election since.

Yesterday, Ladbrokes listed Newsnight host Kirsty Wark as favourite to succeed him, with other frontrunners including BBC media editor Amol Rajan, Miss Wark’s Newsnight colleague Emily Maitlis and Radio 5 Live presenter Emma Barnett. Other contenders include Women’s Hour host Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, presenter of Radio 4’s Listening Project.

Yesterday, BBC boss Lord Tony Hall paid tribute to the younger Dimbleby brother as an ‘absolutely outstanding presenter’ who has ‘commanded respect’ for three decades.

Meanwhile Mr Dimbleby said: ‘It has been a great privilege to have been in this role for so long and in the great broadcasting institution which is the BBC.

‘It will be a wrench to leave. But the time feels right.’