Carol Vorderman: Pride of Britain hammers home politicians' "immense responsibility" to public

As well as celebrating a whole cohort of award winners for their tireless campaigning, host Carol Vorderman opened up on just how the Pride of Britain Awards hammers home the responsibilities that politicians and the government have to the British public.

In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Vorderman explained that some of the campaigning done is "politically motivated", and with a host of recognisable faces in attendance at the awards, including the King and Queen and "other important British figures", it allows people to realise "the immense responsibility that a government has and the immense changes that these politicians can make".

She continued: "I think, for me, my anger over the last years has come from utter frustration and genuine anger at how abused the public have been, and I hope Labour start to make a damn better job of it than they are doing."

It's through the Pride of Britain Awards that Vorderman sees "the very real connection between politics and the way the country is able to behave".

The broadcaster told RadioTimes.com: "Over the years, we've given awards to people who helped with the Grenfell fire, the Post Office scandal, Hillsborough, and it's like, 'Oh, here's another thing that's taken two decades or three decades.'

"Obviously not in Grenfell's case, but it's like... nothing changed. And you start to recognise the pattern. Problems of inaction by various governments, not just by the Tories. So I think that's part of maybe what Pride of Britain is."

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Vorderman has been hosting the Pride of Britain Awards since its inception in 1999, something she is "very proud" of.

"It just shows the significance of our award winners," said Vorderman, as she reflected on the last 25 years. "When we first did it in 1999, it was televised, and I was working for the Daily Mirror at the time...

"We had awards like Business Person of the Year, Sports Person of the Year, but in the middle of it all were these six awards that were just very different, and it was those that really struck us."

She continued: "So Peter [Willis] put the idea together and went to ITV to pitch it and they took it, and that's where it went and has stayed ever since. So [I'm] very proud of that."

The Pride of Britain Awards 2024 will air on ITV1 on Thursday 24th October at 8pm.

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