Broadcaster Jeremy Vine has issued a warning to whoever takes over David Dimbleby’s Question Time role, saying they could get “universally savaged”.
Dimbleby, 79, is leaving Question Time after 25 years presenting the flagship BBC show.
Kirsty Wark, Emily Maitlis, Victoria Derbyshire, Nick Robinson, Jeremy Paxman, John Humphrys and Huw Edwards are among the names who have been tipped as possible successors.
BREAKING: David Dimbleby announces that he will leave @bbcquestiontime in December 2018, after 25 years as presenter of the programme. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/qmy9WDlXCI
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 17, 2018
Vine, appearing to rule himself out of the role, wrote on Twitter: “David Dimbleby is truly great and I love working with him.
David Dimbleby is truly great and I love working with him.The next person to do @bbcquestiontime might like to remember that alternate presenters get universally savaged.Ask Sir Robin Day's successor, Peter Sissons. By the end there was nothing left of him but his teeth.
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 18, 2018
“The next person to do Question Time might like to remember that alternate presenters get universally savaged.
“Ask Sir Robin Day’s successor, Peter Sissons.
“By the end there was nothing left of him but his teeth,” said Vine, who is taking over from Matthew Wright on Channel 5’s current affairs daily show.
Question Time was previously hosted by Robin Day, from 1979 to 1989, and then Sissons until 1993.
Announcing his departure, Dimbleby said he would be returning to his first love – reporting.
He said: “At the end of the year I will have been chairing Question Time for a quarter of a century and I have decided that this is the right moment to leave.
“It has been a privilege to work for a programme which brings voters face to face with those in power. I am grateful to the production teams and to the BBC who have made this possible.
“It has been exhilarating following the twists and turns of British politics from John Major in 1994, through the Blair and Brown years to Cameron and May. I am not giving up broadcasting.
“Instead, after years in the studio, I now plan to return to my first love: reporting.”
Not a bad innings – how @bbcquestiontime looked when David Dimbleby presented it for the first time back in January 1994 #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/IVsMetrWXR
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 17, 2018
Dimbleby first hosted Question Time in January 1994 and is the longest-serving presenter of the show.
His final Question Time will be on December 13 this year.