David Dimbleby wants to continue to present BBC1’s Question Time after his current BBC deal runs out in the summer, saying he has “never really taken much notice of contracts”.
Dimbleby, who will front BBC1’s coverage of the EU referendum next week, said he would “always [be] up for anything” after playing a key role for the BBC at last year’s general election alongside the man tipped to replace him, Huw Edwards.
Speculation has grown in recent months that Dimbleby, who has hosted the programme since 1994, would step down from Question Time when his current contract runs out.
But Dimbleby, one of the BBC’s most recognisable faces and authoritative voices, told the new issue of Radio Times that he wanted to continue in the role if the BBC would have him.
“I turn up if they want me,” said Dimbleby. “I’ve never really taken much notice of contracts,” he said. “I enjoy it very much. As long as I can do it well – it’s getting big audiences. It’s far and away the most popular political programme.”
Asked whether the EU referendum would be his last big results show for the BBC, Dimbleby said: “Well, erm. Ah-erm. I always assume that every one is my last – and so far, I’ve been proved wrong.
“I don’t decide these things, I’m always up for anything. They’ve already announced that Huw’s doing the [2020] general election. I can’t do it forever. If asked, I wouldn’t say no, put it like that.
“I don’t see myself as a kind of crumbling institution. I broadcast because I enjoy broadcasting, and I’m asked to do it. I love it.”
Dimbleby will also present the BBC’s EU debate programme live from the SSE Arena at Wembley on 21 June.
“It is the kind that Gladstone used to have, or Lloyd George,” he told Radio Times.
“I don’t know what the questions will be, but what I’ve noticed so far with Question Time is that, while political commentators are very interested in the in-fighting in the Tory Party, and the apparent argument within Labour on the whole, the general public are more interested in immigration and the economy.”
Looking ahead to the 11-hour referendum results show on 23 June, which he will front with Emily Maitlis and Laura Kuenssberg, Dimbleby said: “You have to have a sort of stamina that gets you through the night. The whole team has that. Just … keep going.
“After about 100 results, we should be able to build up a picture of which way the wind is blowing,” he added.
“We’re there to report the facts, not to report speculative interpretations. If one side was a million votes ahead, and we only had another 30 counts to come in, we might be able to say, yes, they’ve won.
“But the closer it is, the more distant that moment becomes. And the more perilous the decision to call it.”
“The remain camp and the leave camp have their own flow of information,” he said. “You look at their faces, as much as anything else. To see whether they’re looking a bit downcast, or whether they go a little bit silent, or puzzled.”
