The stage is set in Swanage, Dorset, for a political showdown in the wake of the government’s Spring Budget as the BBC radio outside broadcast truck rolls into town.
The long running radio programme Any Questions? will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 from The Mowlem from 8 pm on Friday 8th March 2024, with four guests from across the political spectrum presented by political correspondent Alex Forsyth.
Any Questions?, which was first broadcast in 1948, is now presented by BBC political correspondent Alex Forsyth
Spring Budget top of the political agenda
Those invited to answer the questions put to them by the audience in Swanage will be the Financial Secretary to the treasury Nigel Huddleston MP, the shadow minister for industry and decarbonisation Sarah Jones MP, managing director of Reid Steel Simon Boyd, and the Financial Times columnist and economist Soumaya Keynes.
With the Spring Budget being the top political event of the week, the panel are bound to be quizzed on what they think of the chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s economic measures.
For those who already have tickets for the sold out show, the doors of The Mowlem will open at 6.30 pm, and drinks will be available in the Show Bar.
As audience members arrive they will be invited to submit questions for the panel and seating in the auditorium will be on a first come first served basis. There will be a warm up and then the live broadcast will start at 8 pm.
Financial Secretary to the treasury Nigel Huddleston MP
Putting the government’s point of view will be Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston. He’s currently the financial secretary to the treasury, so will have been part of the team putting together the Spring Budget.
Commenting upon the budget, Nigel Huddleston MP said:
“In my role as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, I was delighted to join the Chancellor outside the door of Downing Street and then be in the chamber to see him deliver the Spring Budget we have been working on.
“It is a budget that prioritises long-term growth and fiscal responsibility, focusing on reducing the tax burden for millions of workers and incentivising business investment.”
Nigel was first elected as member of parliament for Mid Worcestershire in the May 2015 General Election and was re-elected on 12th December in 2019.
He was born and raised in Lincolnshire and attended a comprehensive school before going on to study politics and economics at Oxford University.
He has worked as a management consultant for the accountants Arthur Andersen and later Deloitte, before working for the technology company Google.
Once elected as an MP, he was the parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Matt Hancock when he was the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has been a government whip, and more recently, a minister of state in the new Department for Business and Trade. Then, in November 2023, he was appointed as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
Shadow minister for industry and decarbonisation Sarah Jones MP
Labour MP Sarah Jones is the shadow minister for industry and decarbonisation. Commenting on the Spring Budget she said:
“A very lacklustre budget that will do nothing to make up for 14 years of failure. Time for an election.”
Sarah was educated privately in Croydon in London and then read history at Durham University. Having lived all her life in the South London town, she was elected as a member of parliament in 2017 for Croydon Central and re-elected in 2019.
A former senior civil servant, she was a member of the team delivering the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, working for a time, under Jeremy Hunt, the then Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. She has held various senior roles within the NHS and has been the head of campaigns at the housing charity Shelter.
Since entering parliament, she has been Labour’s shadow housing minister and the shadow minister for policing and the fire service. In 2018, Sarah campaigned, alongside Baroness Tessa Jowell, for better treatment for brain tumours, prompting the government to launch the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, of which Sarah is a board member.
In 2023, Sarah was made shadow minister for industry and decarbonisation.
Managing director of Reid Steel Simon Boyd
Joining the MPs will be Simon Boyd, managing director of the Dorset-based business Reid Steel. The company, which has its headquarters in Christchurch, designs, manufactures and constructs steel structures, employing more than 400 staff.
Simon started his own business at the age of 25 in heavy lifting and steel erecting. He was invited to join Reid Steel in the 1990s to look after the construction of football stadiums and became contracts director in 1998, before taking on the role of managing director.
He says his expertise includes motivation of large teams, change management, complex contract negotiations and the development of strategic relationships.
Since 2019, he has been a non-executive director of the business support organisation Dorset Chamber.
Financial Times columnist and economist Soumaya Keynes
Economics columnist for The Financial Times Soumaya Keynes will be providing the deeper economic analysis of the Spring Budget.
Formerly a journalist for The Economist magazine for eight years where she covered economics, trade and globalisation, she has also worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Soumaya completed undergraduate and masters degrees in economics at the University of Cambridge and is the great-great-niece of the famous economist John Maynard Keynes.
She is a podcast host and has previously appeared on a number of BBC Radio 4 programmes including the Now Show and Any Questions.
Further information
- More about Any Questions?
