Entertainment

Kirsty Wark to present editions of Radio 4’s Front Row after Newsnight exit

Wark will present her final episode of Newsnight on Friday evening.

Kirsty Wark has been at Newsnight since 1993
Kirsty Wark has been at Newsnight since 1993 (Jane Barlow/PA)
By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

BBC broadcaster Kirsty Wark will present editions of Radio 4 show Front Row after she leaves Newsnight.

The 69-year-old, the longest-serving presenter on the BBC Two programme, according to the corporation, will host her last show on Friday evening.

On August 13 Wark will present her first episode of Front Row while at the Edinburgh Festival and after that she will present one edition of the programme weekly from Glasgow.

From September music journalist Kate Molleson will join from Scotland as a presenter on the show – which covers the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

Wark said: “I have been so lucky to have been given a true labour of love and I’m looking forward to many conversations and performances right across the artistic spectrum and beyond.

“I have always found that people interested in politics are just as interested in culture and vice versa so I see this new role as an extension of everything that I hold dear.”

Mohit Bakaya, BBC director of speech, said: “We’re delighted that Front Row will come from Glasgow once a week as part of our commitment to creating production opportunities outside of London and investing in audio across the UK.

“Following the success of Saturday Live moving to Wales and Pick Of The Week to Northern Ireland, our new network radio production hubs allow us to better reflect, represent and serve all audiences.

“I’m looking forward to hearing Kirsty kick things off live on Front Row from the Edinburgh Festival this August.”

In 2023 the BBC committed to moving 50 episodes of Front Row out of London as part of a commitment to increasing the volume of content that is made from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Journalist Victoria Derbyshire shared a photo of her and Wark on X ahead of her Newsnight exit and wrote: “Here she is. The legend that is @KirstyWark on her last day on #Newsnight.”

Wark has interviewed many people including Lord Macpherson, following his inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and in the US she interviewed victims of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro.

She also reported and presented from Scotland after the 1996 Dunblane massacre, when gunman Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children and their teacher in the village primary school before turning the gun on himself.