Jenni Murray

Dame Jenni Murray (née Bailey; 12 May 1950 – 12 March 2026) was a British journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour from 1987 to 2020.

Murray was born in Barnsley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire (now South Yorkshire) on 12 May 1950, the only child of Alvin Bailey, an electrical engineer, and Winifred Jones, a civil servant. At age 5, her mother sent Murray for elocution lessons, to iron out her regional accent. When she was 11, her father's career took him to India and she refused to accompany her parents, opting instead to live with her maternal grandparents, enabling her to attend Barnsley Girls' High School, a grammar school, which she left with A levels in French, English and History. She earned a degree in French and Drama from the University of Hull.

Murray worked as a copy taker, then producer and presenter, at BBC Radio Bristol between 1973 and 1978. She was employed as a reporter and presenter with BBC regional TV news programme South Today from 1978 to 1984. She was a newsreader and later one of the presenters of the BBC's Newsnight television show for two years from 1984 to 1986, before moving to BBC Radio 4 to co-present the Today programme until 1987. She succeded Sue MacGregor as presenter of Woman's Hour in 1987. She also presented BBC Radio 4's The Message and wrote for magazines and newspapers including The Guardian, the Daily Express and the Daily Mail. She also wrote several books on topics including women's rights, parenting and menopause.