Carolyn Quinn has been a much-loved voice on BBC Radio 4 for decades. She started broadcasting “as a hobby”, by getting involved with hospital radio at Charing Cross Hospital. It was an unlikely beginning to a journalism career that has lasted for over five decades and seen her hosting some of the nation’s best known radio programmes. After reading French at the University of Kent, Carolyn became ward clerk at Charing Cross Hospital, London, before joining the BBC Local Radio reporters’ scheme. She moved to the BBC’s political and parliamentary team in 1989 and became a Political Correspondent on TV and radio in 1994. In 2004 Carolyn joined the presenting line-up on Radio 4’s Today programme, staying with Today until...
Carolyn Quinn has been a much-loved voice on BBC Radio 4 for decades. She started broadcasting “as a hobby”, by getting involved with hospital radio at Charing Cross Hospital. It was an unlikely beginning to a journalism career that has lasted for over five decades and seen her hosting some of the nation’s best known radio programmes. After reading French at the University of Kent, Carolyn became ward clerk at Charing Cross Hospital, London, before joining the BBC Local Radio reporters’ scheme. She moved to the BBC’s political and parliamentary team in 1989 and became a Political Correspondent on TV and radio in 1994.
In 2004 Carolyn joined the presenting line-up on Radio 4’s Today programme, staying with Today until 2008. From 2001 she was also a regular presenter of BBC Radio 4’s PM programme and in 2007 became the main presenter of Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour, stepping down in 2023. She has also presented Radio 4’s overnight election programmes covering referendums and general and local elections. Carolyn has had a front-row seat for all political events of the last twenty-plus years, from Blair to Brexit to COVID-19 and beyond. As a live broadcaster she has also covered a wide range of non-political domestic and foreign affairs topics; she has also fronted documentaries.
Much respected by her peers, Carolyn was the first woman to be elected Chair of the Westminster Press Gallery in 2011.
Today Carolyn regularly contributes to programmes on Sky News, Times Radio, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live.
Carolyn’s skills at chairing and moderating debates mean she’s in demand as a host for book and product launches, front of audience events and Q&As; she is also sought after for and audio projects, including podcasts and audio books, that require a warm and experienced broadcast voice.
