Sue Lawley (born July 14, 1946) is an English broadcaster. She has presented Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 since 1988, but announced in April 2006 that she will step down in August after 18 years. (See ) Born in Lower Gornal, England and was brought up in the Black Country, she graduated in Languages from the University of Bristol and some time later started at the BBC in Plymouth. Whilst at University, due to peer pressure, she changed or moderated her "Birmingham accent", to one more closely associated with RP or BBC English. This may explain why her accent, to some ears, may sound slightly dated, as if from the 1960s. This is also true of BBC journalist Joan Bakewell.
In 1972, she became well-known as one of the presenters of the BBC TV's news magazine Nationwide in the 1970s until the show came to a close in 1983. She has been a newsreader on radio and TV, in particular, the BBC's Six O'Clock News. During a 1988 broadcast, the studio was stormed by protesting lesbians; Lawley continued to read the news whilst co-presenter Nicholas Witchell sat on one of them. (See )
Her second marriage was in 1987, to Hugh Williams, a television executive.
It is often rumoured that Sting (the pop singer Gordon Sumner) had a crush on Sue Lawley, because his vocals on the 1980 The Police hit "So Lonely" sounded like "Sue Lawley" (see mondegreen).
