Exclusive: presenter in talks to become programme’s first female host in its 40-year history, sources say

Fiona Bruce has been offered the job of hosting BBC One’s Question Time, according to sources at the corporation, in a move that would make her the first female host in the programme’s history.

The Antiques Roadshow presenter was an outside bet to host the flagship current affairs debate programme when it was announced that David Dimbleby would be leaving the show at the end of the year.

However, Bruce impressed bosses in a series of auditions held behind closed doors earlier this year and was now expected to take over the programme from the start of 2019.

If a deal is signed she would become the first woman to host Question Time since it first aired in 1979.

Bruce’s agent declined to comment and a BBC spokesperson said they would not comment on “speculation”.

Sources suggest a formal announcement on the job was expected in the coming days, with the final signoff made at the highest levels of the organisation, including by the director-general, Tony Hall, and the director of news, Fran Unsworth.

Other names on the final shortlist included the Newsnight presenters Emily Maitlis and Kirsty Wark. Others who took part in auditions for the job included Victoria Derbyshire, Samira Ahmed and Nick Robinson.

If Bruce, who has occasionally hosted the BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten bulletins, takes the job she could be forced to give up some of her other presenting roles, such as the art programme Fake or Fortune. The 54-year-old has spent her entire journalistic career at the BBC and previously hosted shows such as Crimewatch.

She currently earns between £180,000 and £189,999 a year from the BBC and if she takes the job the corporation would be under pressure to ensure she received the same as Dimbleby.

His current salary is unknown because the programme is made by the independent production company Mentorn Media, which means it was exempt from rules forcing the BBC to disclose the income of its leading presenters.

Dimbleby has hosted Question Time, which is never far from the headlines, since 1994. The programme, filmed in a different UK city every week, has become a focal point for debates over the BBC’s coverage of politics and the key issues of national debate.

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In 2009 there was controversy after the far-right BNP’s leader, Nick Griffin, was invited to appear on the panel, while regular appearances by Ukip’s Nigel Farage prompted scrutiny of its guests’ political backgrounds from those who were convinced the show’s bookers showed political bias.

The BBC has been regularly forced to defend even minor aspects of the programme and it was an early pioneer of political debate on Twitter, with clips of audience questions and politicians’ answers regularly going viral. This was not always for complimentary reasons – the complexion of some of those asking questions gave birth to the insult “gammon” to describe an angry ruddy-faced, white middle-aged man.

Question Time is pre-recorded in the early evening to enable audiences to make their way home. Guests are then invited to stay on afterwards in the host town, with the programme often followed by a boozy dinner for all panel members.

Dimbleby, who has only missed one programme in 24 years after being kicked by a bullock on his East Sussex farm, was due to present his final show on 13 December.

The 80-year-old also hosted the BBC’s coverage of the last 10 general elections, although he was expected to hand over to Huw Edwards for the next national vote. However, this week a BBC spokesperson would not confirm whether Edwards would present the coverage in the event of a snap general election.