In the last few weeks, I've interviewed Yemen’s Houthi rebels, hosted a discussion between teenage boys and their parents about Adolescence and conducted what turned out to be the BBC's last interview with boxing legend George Foreman.

I am thrilled to join the family of presenters on Radio 4's Pick of the Week. I also present Newshour, World Business Report and the Global News Podcast on BBC World Service. I’ve read the news on Radio 2 since 1998  and present rolling news coverage on Global’s LBC News.  

I am from a working-class background in the West Midlands. I've hosted over 40,000 hours of live BBC News output and won a range of industry awards including a gold ARIA. Radio Academy Award judges have commented that I am “an assured host, balancing great seriousness and warmth and displaying a strong bond with the audience” and “empathetic and probing, formulating questions that are short, to the point and perfectly timed”.

I was trusted to host the rolling coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth and the January 6th riots on the BBC World Service. I have years of experience of holding politicians to account: the former Prime Minister Theresa May says I have interviewed her more times than any other journalist. I have covered royal weddings and funerals on 5 Live and Radio 2. I visited Prague with adults who were saved from the Nazis by ‘Kindertransport’ and helped them to tell their stories in the places where they had said goodbye to their parents. I am particularly proud of an investigation into the extent of FGM in the Somali community which led to the women I spoke to giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

I’ve been nominated for 18 Radio Academy Awards including UK News and Current Affairs Programme of the Year and UK Speech Broadcaster of the Year.