Sarah Montague
 Sarah Montague    (journalist) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 8 February 1966 |
| Alma mater | University of Bristol |
Sarah Anne Louise Montague, Lady Brooke (born 8 February 1966), is a British journalist, best known as one of the regular presenters of the early morning Today Programme on BBC Radio 4. Sarah Montague left the programme in April 2018 to take over the lead on the station's lunchtime news broadcast, The World at One.[1]
Contents
Early life
Sarah Montague was born to John Montague, a Colonel in the British Army, and Mary (née O'Malley) on Guernsey, a British Crown dependency and one of the Channel Islands. After attending Blanchelande College, a local independent school for girls, she read biology at the University of Bristol, gaining a BSc.
Career
Montague's first occupation was as a stockbroker for County NatWest and then a Eurobond dealer with NatWest Capital Markets in London.[2] She then went into business in London with the owner of men's clothing retailer Charles Tyrwhitt.[3]
Montague began her journalistic career with Channel Television in 1991. She joined Reuters in January 1995 and then became business correspondent for Sky News in January 1996. She joined the BBC during October 1997, and presented Newsnight and BBC News, before joining the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.[4] She presented the very first programme on BBC News 24 with Gavin Esler on 9 November 1997. She has also presented HARDtalk on BBC News.[5]
On 6 November 2010, Sarah Montague broke a strike at the BBC called by the National Union of Journalists. She arrived to present the Today Programme at 3:30 am, along with fellow presenter Evan Davis, thereby not technically crossing the picket line.[6][7] On 15 July 2011, she again broke an NUJ strike by presenting Today with Justin Webb, again by arriving early.[8]
In 2013, she was awarded an honorary degree Doctor of Letters by the University of Sussex. On 10 February 2015, she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Bristol.[9]
After 18 years, she left Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme in April 2018 to take over the lead on the lunchtime news broadcast The World at One from Martha Kearney.[10] She was earning much less than her male colleagues, with John Humphrys earning more than four times her salary.[11] She described herself as "incandescent with rage" when she found out she was earning less than other presenters.[12][13][14] In January 2020 Montague revealed that she had received a £400,000 settlement and an apology from the BBC for her unequal treatment.[15][16]
In 2018, she was criticised for misattributing the Electoral Commission's findings that the Vote Leave campaign broke the law in the 2016 EU Referendum, thereby protecting several government ministers from pressure to resign. She repeatedly referred to “these allegations”, when they were, in fact, the findings – the verdict – of the statutory body charged with protecting the 2016 referendum and the integrity of UK elections.[17] The Electoral Commission finding and fine were overruled in court in July 2019 [18] The defendant in the court case said "This raises serious questions about its (the Electoral Commission's) conduct both during and after the referendum.".
Personal life
In 2002, Sarah Montague married businessman Richard Christopher Brooke. They are friends of former Prime Minister David Cameron, with whom Brooke went to Eton College.[19] Montague is the mother of three daughters and also has a stepdaughter. In 2012, Mrs Brooke became Lady Brooke, when her husband inherited the family baronetcy, to become Sir Christopher Brooke, Bt.
References
- ↑ "Sarah Montague leaves BBC Radio 4’s Today programme after 18 years"
- ↑ "'I'm all mouth – I like feisty discussions'"
- ↑ "Sarah Montague - Chartwell Speakers"
- ↑ "Today loses its velvet voice after 18 years of male jibes"
- ↑ "Steve Keen on BBC HARDtalk [good sync"]
- ↑ "BBC calls on unfamiliar faces to struggle through strike action"
- ↑ "BBC's top stars in bitter split over strike"
- ↑ "BBC strike disrupts news programmes"
- ↑ "Public and Ceremonial Events Office. Honorary Degrees. Sarah Montague"
- ↑ "Sarah Montague signs off Today programme with final jibe at John Humphrys"
- ↑ "Trouble at the Today programme: is it losing its grip?"
- ↑ "Sarah Montague: I was incandescent with rage over Today pay gap"
- ↑ "Sarah Montague on her gender pay gap: I’m furious about being paid less than men at the BBC"
- ↑ "Radio 4 host 'incandescent with rage' over pay"
- ↑ "Sarah Montague: Radio presenter confirms £400k pay settlement with BBC"
- ↑ "Sarah Montague wins £400,000 from BBC over unequal pay"
- ↑ "The will of the people? These Brexit ideologues are destroying democracy"
- ↑ "Darren Grimes: Brexit campaigner wins appeal against £20,000 fine"
- ↑ "Andy McSmith's Diary: The enemy within Chequers at Sam Cam's delayed 40th"
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