Dame Jenni Murray obituary

Fearless broadcaster who was the longest-serving presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Jenni Murray, who has died aged 75, was the longest-serving presenter of Woman’s Hour, bringing calm authority to the BBC Radio 4 weekday show for 33 years. The programme that was launched in 1946 with cooking, cleaning tips and romantic serials had, by the time of Murray’s tenure (1987-2020), become a platform for subjects such as the menopause, domestic violence, genital mutilation and sexual politics. After a decade of Murray in the presenter’s chair, the programme was described by the Sunday Times in 1996 as “Radio 4’s sisterhood of the airwaves”. Murray was fearless and thoughtful in her intelligent questioning of guests, who ranged from politicians, film stars, authors and poets to chefs, gardeners, lawyers and anxious parents. In 1990, in Margaret Thatcher’s final broadcast interview as prime minister, Woman’s Hour exposed the ideological differences between the feminist approach advanced by Murray, who advocated government ensuring accessible, affordable childcare to hasten gender equality, and the Conservative leader’s view that the issue was one for individuals, not the state. Pointin