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”.