Is Anna Ford pitching for Kirsty Young’s Desert Island job?

Is Anna Ford (pictured left), the former newscaster, angling to replace Kirsty Young as the presenter of the BBC's Desert Island Discs? Judging from an interview in the Daily Telegraph it would appear so. Ford, 64, who was recently told that her contract as host of Radio 4's Gardener’s Quiz would not be renewed, says: "I still have my heart set on Desert Island Discs." Quite what 39-year-old Young will think of this rather naked pitch for her job can only be guessed, although there are many critics of Young who would argue that Ford would add some insight to the programme.

Ford's main target, however, was not Young but the Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman, who ruffled feathers at the Edinburgh Television Festival by claiming that white, middle-class blokes like himself should forget about working for the BBC as there was currently a prejudice in favour of women.

Says Ford: "He's become very grumpy lately and that’s what I imagine lies behind this outburst. It is very sad that he appears to feel so threatened by change or having to compete with women or people from other countries or backgrounds. White, middle-class males have had it all their own way at the BBC since the days of Lord Reith and it is frankly amazing the extent to which they still have it their own way in the new millennium."

She felt that Paxman, 58, was lucky to have kept his job (she parted company with the BBC in 2006 amid allegations of ageism). "Men are allowed to become old on television, but not women," she observes. ”Where are all the grey-haired women? A very large chunk of the population is now made up of women over 55, but they are certainly not represented on television."