Culture Secretary Matt Hancock says it is ‘about time’ a woman was at the helm of Question Time.
After David Dimbleby announced he is standing down after 25 years of presenting the BBC show, Mr Hancock was asked in the Commons yesterday if he agreed his replacement should be a woman.
Conservative MP Vicky Ford said: ‘Will the secretary of state join me in thanking David Dimbleby for his role – 25 years at the helm of Question Time.
David Dimbleby, 79, first presented Question Time on January 14, 1994, and is the longest serving presenter of the show
‘And does he agree with me that in this year – 100 years of women’s suffrage – this baton should be passed to a woman?’
Mr Hancock replied: ‘I think the whole House will want to congratulate David Dimbleby on his achievement.
‘And while, of course, the job must go according to merit, I think it’s about time we had a woman at the helm of Question Time.’
Dimbleby, 79, first presented Question Time on January 14, 1994, and is the longest serving presenter of the show.
He has missed only one episode of the show, when he was admitted to hospital after being kicked by a cow at his Sussex home in 2009.
Mishal Husain (left) and Emily Maitlis (right) are among the women who have been named as potential candidates to take over from Question Time titan Dimbleby, who has hosted the show for a quarter of a century
He said earlier this week: ‘At the end of the year I will have been chairing Question Time for a quarter of a century and I have decided that this is the right moment to leave.’
His final broadcast will be on December 13.
Victoria Derbyshire (left) and Kirsty Wark (right) have also been flagged up as potential new chairs of Question Time
Samira Ahmed (left) and Emma Barnett (right) have been named as possible replacements for Dimbleby
Several women have been mentioned as possible replacements, including BBC journalist Samira Ahmed – who said on Twitter she was ‘very well qualified’ for the role – presenter Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Emma Barnett, Today presenter Mishal Husain, and the Newsnight pair of Kirsty Wark and Emily Maitlis.
Other contenders include Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Nick Robinson.