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Weekend Woman's Hour: Why the Queen topped the Power List; Gail Rebuck; Baroness Hale; Dido Harding

Jane Garvey presents highlights from the interviews with the women on the first WH Power List. She is joined by Eve Pollard, who chaired the judges, and by historian Kate Williams.

Jane Garvey is joined by Eve Pollard, who chaired the judges of the first Power List and by the historian, Kate Williams to talk about the woman who topped the list - Her Majesty The Queen. We also speak to some of the women who featured on the Power List, including the leading publisher, Dame Gail Rebuck; the only woman on the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale; Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies; and the Home Secretary, Theresa May and her Shadow, Yvette Cooper.

Presented by Jane Garvey
Produced and edited by Ruth Watts.

Available now

58 minutes

Woman's Hour Power List

Her Majesty The Queen

Jane Garvey is joined by Eve Pollard, who chaired the judges of the first Power List and by the historian, Kate Williams to talk about the woman who topped the list - Her Majesty The Queen.

Yvette Cooper MP, Shadow Home Secretary and Woman’s Hour Powerlister

Since becoming an MP, Yvette Cooper has been tipped for high office, becoming the first female Chief Secretary to the Treasury inTony Blair’s government.ÌýShe was also the first minister to take maternity leave and with husband Ed Balls, was part of the first married couple to sit in Cabinet. JaneÌý joined the Shadow Home Secretary and Woman’s Hour Powerlister in her West Yorkshire constituency to talk about ambition, the two Eds, and her battle with civil servants whom she felt excluded her while she was a Minister on maternity leave.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, PowerLister

Professor Dame Sally Davies is the and the first woman to fill this post.ÌýShe is a haematologist with specialist research interest in sickle cell disease, but in her advisory post she guides government decisions on diverse subjects such as superbugs, drug trials and obesity.ÌýShe is also number six on the .

Assistant Commissioner, Cressida Dick

Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick serves as the most senior female officer within the Metropolitan Police, a rank equivalent to that of Chief Constable outside London. During the Olympic and Paralympic games, she was national director for counter terrorism, an extension of her role leading on the long-term threat of terrorism across the UK.Ìý A trained hostage negotiator, she has extensive experience in public order, firearms and security. In 2005, she was the officer in charge of the operation which led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. A jury cleared her of blame at the end of the prosecution of the Metropolitan Police under health and safety laws. Three years ago she was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal.

Ìý

Baroness Brenda Hale

Lady Hale is Deputy President of the Supreme Court. Her role makes her the most senior female judge in British legal history and she remains the first and only woman to sit on the UK's highest court. Educated in the state school system, she won a state scholarship to Cambridge. The first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission, she spent ten years re-defining the face of family law – an area she specialised in. She has been an outspoken critic of the lack of women and diversity in the judiciary, particularly at the highest levels.

Dido Harding, CEO Talk Talk

has been theÌýCEO of TalkTalk Group for just over three years, having previously worked for top retailers like Sainsburys and Tesco.Ìý She’s keen to make sure that her workforce is as diverse as possible andÌý wants to see more women running companies not necessarily on their boards.ÌýThe former amateur jockey and mother of two tells us what it’s like to juggle family life with life as a chief executive.

Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP

Home Secretary Theresa May has been named by the Power List judges as the most powerful woman in politics in Britain today. Overall she was only pipped to the number one slot by Her Majesty The Queen. JenniÌýtalks to the woman who holds one of the most challenging jobs in government and asks, what does power mean to her?

Heather Rabbatts CBE

Heather Rabbatts trained as a barrister but made her name as the youngest local authority chief executive and went on to run the London boroughs of Lambeth, Merton and Hammersmith and Fulham. She was Executive Deputy Chair of Millwall F.C. for four years from 2006 and in 2012 she became the first female board member of the Football Association, serving on the Remuneration Committee.Ìý She is a trustee of the Royal Opera House, and is on the boards of Crossrail and the UK Film Council. She has held a number of senior positions including governor of the LSE and the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and trustee of the British Council.

talks about her place on the Woman’s Hour power list.

Gail Rebuck

Chosen as one of the 100 most powerful women on the Woman’s Hour Power List, Gail Rebuck has been chair and chief executive of the Random House Group, one of the largest general book publishing companies in the UK. This year Random House won the Publisher of the Year accolade at the Industry AwardsÌý following a record breaking year.ÌýÌý Gail Rebuck is also one of the prime movers behind the merger taking place between Random House and Penguin which will make them the largest book publisher in the world.ÌýÌý Eighteen months ago, Gail Rebuck’s husband, LordÌý (Philip) Gould, died after four years of living with cancer.Ìý He chose to be very open about his cancer and his impending death.Ìý As part of our Power list interviews, Jane went to the Random House headquarters to talk to Gail about her professional and personal life. Ìý

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jane Garvey
Interviewed Guest Eve Pollard
Interviewed Guest Kate Williams
Interviewed Guest Yvette Cooper
Interviewed Guest Sally Davies
Interviewed Guest Cressida Dick
Interviewed Guest Brenda Hale
Interviewed Guest Dido Harding
Interviewed Guest Theresa May
Interviewed Guest Heather Rabbatts
Interviewed Guest Gail Rebuck
Producer Ruth Watts

Broadcast

  • Sat 28 Dec 2013 16:00

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