Winifred Robinson (born 7 December 1957) is a

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

presenter of the ''

You and Yours ''You and Yours'' is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and produced by BBC News. History ''You and Yours'' began broadcasting in October 1970, when its first presenter was Joan York. In the 1980s it briefly ra ...

'' programme.

Early life

Robinson was born in Liverpool, the fourth of six daughters of a docker and a housewife. She attended Notre Dame Collegiate School (now Notre Dame Catholic College), a girls' Roman Catholic

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Everton Valley. In 1979, she graduated from

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

''You and Yours''
BBC presenter page with a degree in English.

Career

Robinson began her career at the Catholic Pictorial, and then the '' Ormskirk Advertiser'' newspaper. Her first job in broadcasting was in the newsroom at

BRMB Free Radio Birmingham is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Birmingham and the West Midlands. As of September 2022, the station has ...

Radio in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, later moving to

Red Rose Radio Red Rose Radio was the first UK Independent Local Radio station to be licensed for Lancashire by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). Although a company of that name was incorporated in 1978 (as Red Rose Radio Limited), the licence was awa ...

in Preston and the local television news '' Northwest Tonight''.''You and Yours'' webpage
BBC site She has also presented ''

File on 4 ''File on 4'' is a current-affairs radio programme produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. First broadcast from Manchester in 1977, it is produced in Salford by the BBC's Radio Current Affairs department. It has won more than forty aw ...

''. Robinson became a reporter on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' programme in 1995, and briefly was a presenter, but was reportedly 'passed over' because of her Liverpool accent, an accusation the BBC has denied, and

Sarah Montague Sarah Anne Louise Montague, Lady Brooke (born 8 February 1966),''Who's who'' is a British journalist and presenter of the BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme ''The World at One''. For 18 years, prior to April 2018, she was a regular presenter ...

was appointed. Robinson joined ''

'', but continues to present documentaries on social issues, an area she previously tackled as a ''Today'' reporter. In 2007 Robinson revisited the

Norris Green Norris Green is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, England, in the east of the city. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 17,784, which had fallen to 15,047 at the 2011 Census. History Historically a part of Lancashire, Norris Green's develo ...

housing estate in Liverpool, where she spent most of her formative years, for a radio documentary, examining problems the area faced. Robinson has also written for the '' Daily Mail'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' newspapers. On 9 January 2018, Robinson was removed for the day as ''You and Yours'' presenter as she had tweeted support for

Carrie Gracie Carrie Gracie (born 1962)Ben Dowel"Carrie Gracie profile: Award-winning journalist with years at World Service" theguardian.com, 12 May 2009 is a Scottish journalist and newsreader best known as having been China Editor for BBC News. She resign ...

, the BBC's former China editor, who resigned from the post. The BBC said that allowing Robinson to broadcast on equal pay would break the corporation's impartiality rules.

References

1957 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool BBC newsreaders and journalists Journalists from Liverpool Radio presenters from Liverpool English people of Irish descent BBC North West newsreaders and journalists People from Norris Green {{UK-radio-bio-stub