Meet Our Judges

Adejoké Bakare is a British Nigerian-born chef and the founder of Chishuru, the west London restaurant specialising in modern West African cuisine. She is Britain's first Black female Michelin-starred chef, and only the second in the world to win a Michelin-star for her own restaurant.

John Bercow is a British former politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019.

Grace Brown, Joint Head of Garden Court Chambers, is a barrister focused on human rights, immigration and refugee law. In 2021 she was awarded Lawyer of the Year by the Black Solicitors Network at the UK Diversity Legal Awards. 

Professor Sarah Churchwell is a professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of London. Her expertise is in 20th- and 21st-century American literature and cultural history, especially the 1920s and 1930s.

Victoria Derbyshire is a journalist, newsreader and broadcaster. Her current affairs and debate programme was broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel from 2015 until March 2020. She has also presented Newsnight and BBC Panorama.

Dr Tessa Dunlop FRHistS, is a historian, writer and broadcaster. She has written several oral history books and presented history programmes for the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery Channel, UKTV History and the History Channel.

Dr Amanda Foreman is a British-American biographer and historian. Her books include Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, A World on Fire, and The World Made by Women. She is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and an Honorary Research Senior Fellow at the University of Liverpool.

Wendy Holden is a bestselling author and former war correspondent with more than thirty-five books published. She has sold over two million books and had several works transferred to radio and television.

Amanda Lees is a best-selling author whose YA trilogy, Kumari, Goddess of Gotham, was nominated for the Guardian Children’s Book Prize and the Doncaster Book Award. She appears regularly on BBC radio and LBC.

Emily Maitlis is a journalist and former newsreader for the BBC. She was the lead anchor of the BBC Two news and current affairs programme Newsnight until the end of 2021. She is currently a presenter of the daily podcast The News Agents on LBC Radio.

Clare Mulley is an award-winning author whose books include Agent Zo, The Women Who Flew for Hitler, The Spy Who Loved and The Women Who Saved the Children. Popular on TV, radio and pods, Clare reviews widely across the papers, and has judged the Historical Writers Association and Biographers Club book prizes.

Jancis Robinson is a wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She provided advice for the wine cellar of Queen Elizabeth II.

Rick Stroud is an Emmy winning writer and director. He is the author of The Book of the Moon and The Phantom Army of Alamein: How the Camouflage Unit and Operation Bertram Hoodwinked Rommel, and with Victor Gregg has written Rifleman and King's Cross Kid.

Dr Leslie Vinjamuri is director of the US and Americas programme at Chatham House and professor of international relations at SOAS University of London. She is chair of the faculty of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy at Chatham House.

Tim Walker is an author, broadcaster, media strategist and award-winning journalist whose has worked for, among others, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mirror and The New European.