YP Comment: Radio's Inquisitor

THERE was a reason why the radio broadcaster Sir Jimmy Young interviewed every Prime Minister from Edward Heath to Tony Blair as well as a veritable who's who of the great and the good '“ he treated his opponents with respect and put them at ease with while a deceptively disarming style of inquisition.

It’s little wonder that Margaret Thatcher was interviewed 14 times by Sir Jimmy who died on Monday. As her press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham noted: “He was courteous and not obviously out to trap – rather a somewhat deceptively assiduous person seeking the facts of the case. He was a pro with a polite touch.”

But there was another reason why his lunchtime show on Radio 2 – he referred to it as “JY Prog” – became an institution. He regarded his audience – his listeners – as friends and used his platform to ask probing questions on their behalf while becoming a great consumer champion. Today’s presenters could learn from his example.