Sarah Sands: Radio 4’s Today editor to stand down

Sarah Sands is standing down as editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme after three years.

The news comes a day after it was announced that 450 jobs are to be cut from BBC News under plans to complete its £80m savings target by 2022.

Sands, who took over the reins of the flagship news show in 2017, said it was “a good time to move on”.

Sands previously edited the Evening Standard, where she was replaced by former chancellor George Osborne.

• BBC News announces 450 job cuts

“I have decided that September is a good time to move on from editing the Today programme,” she said in a statement.

“I have loved being part of the Radio 4 team and am proud of what we have achieved, championing intelligent broadcasting and political independence.”

She added: “The Today programme is a beacon of news journalism and I wish it and the BBC well.”

Other outlets to be hit by the job closures announced on Wednesday include BBC Two’s Newsnight, BBC Radio 5 Live and the World Update programme on the World Service.

The official reason for Sands’ departure has not yet been confirmed by the BBC.

The 58-year-old made changes to Radio 4’s flagship programme, including fashion coverage and the introduction of Puzzle for Today, a “humiliatingly hard” morning quiz.

Writing in the i newspaper at the time, she said: “The puzzle speaks to the ingenuity of this country. We have a history of problem solving.”

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