Early life and education

Born in Sedgley

Sedgley

Sedgley is an urban village within the West Midlands county of England. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Sedgley was formerly an ancient manor composed of several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley and Brierley...

, Staffordshire, England and brought up in the Black Country

Black Country

The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...

, she was educated at Dudley Girls High School

Dudley Girls High School

Dudley Girls' High School was a selective higher education school which provided education for girls aged 11 to 18 years.-History:It was located in Dudley, England, and opened on 8 December 1910 near the town centre in Priory Road, 12 years after Dudley Grammar School moved to neighbouring premises...

 and graduated in modern languages from the University of Bristol

University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

 and some time later started her career at the BBC in Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

. Whilst at university, due to peer pressure, she changed or moderated her "Dudley (Black Country

Black Country

The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...

) accent", to one more closely associated with RP (received pronunciation

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...

).

Career

She began her professional career as a trainee reporter on the Western Mail and South Wales Echo

South Wales Echo

The South Wales Echo is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area.The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, Cardiff city centre. It is published by Media Wales Ltd , part of the Trinity Mirror group...

between 1967 and 1970, during which she shared a house in Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 with Michael Buerk

Michael Buerk

Michael Duncan Buerk is a BBC journalist and newsreader, most famous for his reporting of the Ethiopian famine on 23 October 1984, which inspired the Band Aid charity record.-Early life:...

. She then moved to BBC Plymouth as a subeditor and Freelance reporter from 1970 until 1972. In 1972, she gained prominence as one of the reporters/presenters of the BBC TV

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

's news magazine Nationwide

Nationwide (TV series)

Nationwide was a BBC News and Current affairs television programme broadcast on BBC One each weekday following the early evening news. It followed a magazine format, combining political analysis and discussion with consumer affairs, light entertainment and sports reporting...

which she appeared on until 1975, when she was offered the main anchor role on the nightly news show Tonight

Tonight (1957 TV series)

Tonight was a BBC television current affairs programme presented by Cliff Michelmore and broadcast in Britain live on weekday evenings from February 1957 to 1965. The producers were the future Controller of BBC1 Donald Baverstock and the future Director-General of the BBC Alasdair Milne...

. Lawley left Tonight

Tonight (1957 TV series)

Tonight was a BBC television current affairs programme presented by Cliff Michelmore and broadcast in Britain live on weekday evenings from February 1957 to 1965. The producers were the future Controller of BBC1 Donald Baverstock and the future Director-General of the BBC Alasdair Milne...

on maternity leave shortly after its launch and did not return to the show. Instead she rejoined Nationwide as one of the two main anchors, alongside Frank Bough

Frank Bough

Frank Bough is a retired British television presenter who is best known as the former host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including Grandstand, Nationwide and Breakfast Time, which he fronted alongside Selina Scott.-Early life:...

. Lawley remained with the show until it came to a close in 1983. After Nationwide, Lawley became the anchor of the Nine O'Clock News bulletin on BBC1

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

, and then moved to the newly launched Six O'Clock News in 1984. Lawley was praised after a broadcast on 23 May 1988, when the studio was invaded by protesters opposed to Section 28

Section 28

Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...

; Lawley continued to read the news whilst co-presenter Nicholas Witchell

Nicholas Witchell

Nicholas Newton Henshall Witchell is an English journalist. He is the current diplomatic and royal correspondent for BBC News...

 restrained one of them.

Guest appearances and Desert Island Discs

In 1981, she made a guest appearance in the Yes Minister

Yes Minister

Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...

episode "The Quality of Life

The Quality of Life (Yes Minister)

"The Quality of Life" is the thirteenth episode of the BBC comedy series Yes Minister and was first broadcast 30 March 1981. In this episode, the final ' Yes Minister ' is uttered by Sir Humphrey Appleby.- Plot :...

", playing herself. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, Lawley was the regular stand-in for Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan

Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...

 on his BBC1 thrice weekly chat show Wogan

Wogan

Wogan was a chat show on British television, hosted by Terry Wogan. It followed the format of a series broadcast in 1980 entitled What's On Wogan?, which failed to gather viewers. The Wogan show was initially broadcast on Tuesday evenings on BBC1 in 1981 and from 1982 to 1984, it moved into the...

. From 1988 to 26 August 2006 Lawley was the presenter of Desert Island Discs

Desert Island Discs

Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...

on BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

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

.

Other work

In 1989, the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 launched Lawley in her own Saturday night talk show, which was panned by the critics and was cancelled after one season. The very first guest interviewed was the then HRH The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson

Sarah, Duchess of York

Sarah, Duchess of York is a British charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer, television personality and former member of the British Royal Family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, whom she married from 1986 to 1996...

. Lawley left the BBC to work for ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, but did little work for them, other than an occasional series of high profile interviews, which included British Prime Minister John Major

John Major

Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...

. She returned to BBC1

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 in 1993 to host the show Biteback. Lawley was later part of ITN's presenting team in its ITV Election 97 coverage.

Lawley introduces the BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures and is also a board member of the English Tourism Council

English Tourism Council

The VisitEngland is the tourist board for England. In 2003 it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain...

 and the English National Opera

English National Opera

English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...

.

Personal life

Her second marriage was in 1987, to Hugh Williams, a television executive. Her first husband was a lawyer.

External links

• BBC Biography, BBC, November 2005