Miriam González Durántez set to guest edit Radio 4 Today programme

Nick Clegg’s wife will interview Jamie Oliver and Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain

Miriam González Durántez is set to become guest editor of the Radio 4 Today programme (Getty)

She kept her counsel during her husband’s term as Deputy Prime Minister but now Miriam González Durántez will give politicians a grilling when she becomes a guest editor of the Radio 4 Today programme.

Nick Clegg’s wife, a leading lawyer-turned-food blogger, will interview Jamie Oliver and Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, as well as figures from the political world when she joins an esteemed group of guests who have taken over the flagship current affairs programme.

The Spanish-born González Durántez, head of international trade law at the Dechert firm, launched the Inspiring Women campaign, which organises events in which women talk to girls about their life choices. The project has reached 85% of state schools in the UK.

Ms González Durántez, 47, says there is a “residual sexism” that is holding girls back and in her Today programme, which airs on December 30, she will interview women and men from across politics and leading professions about gender stereotypes.

She will also focus on how women and men can find a balance between the competing priorities of work and family life and discuss the decisions she and Mr Clegg took to protect their families from media intrusion – she described herself as “tigress” when it came to her children - during election campaigns.

Pictured with husband Nick Clegg (Getty)

Ms González Durántez, who recently revealed that she is the author of an anonymous food blog, will discuss the challenges of encouraging children to eat a healthy diet with Oliver and Hussain.

Ms González Durántez said: “I am looking forward to this opportunity because I am a big fan of the Today programme. I am hoping to give it a practical twist to discuss some of the issues related to caring and gender stereotypes that affect not only women, but also men.”

The actor Michael Sheen, who has portrayed Tony Blair on screen in three films, will also be a guest editor. A Unicef ambassador, Sheen will use his programme to tell the story of refugees from Syria from the perspective of a teenage girl and will examine the efficacy of foreign aid. His edition will also look at the boundaries of neuroscience. Previous Today guest editors include Prof Stephen Hawking and Tracey Emin.

Radio 4’s Christmas offerings will also include a “mash-up” between The Archers and Calendar Girls. Ambridge drama queen Lynda Snell will direct a full production of Tim Firth’s comedy drama, based on the hit film about a group of friends from a Yorkshire WI who join together to raise money by posing naked for a charity calendar.

The radio premiere of Calendar Girls will be performed by a cast of regulars from the agricultural soap, with special guests. Sean O’Connor, Archers Editor, said: “There were so many parallels between this story and our characters’ lives in Ambridge - the 100th anniversary of the WI, Lynda’s annual Christmas play - and the fact that Calendar Girls is one of the most popular plays with amateur drama groups in the UK - it seemed like an extraordinarily good fit.”

Siân Phillips, who stars in the play, said: “Had I been asked to name a most wonderful, surprising Christmas gift never could I have conjured up an invitation to spend Christmas in Ambridge. When I heard those words I cried an immediate and joyful ‘Yes!’ After all I’m at home in Borsetshire. What a gift!”

Elsewhere in the BBC Radio Christmas line-up, Radio 4 Extra has been given exclusive access to Agatha Christie’s personal dictaphone tapes as she dictated her autobiography for a special programme on the Queen of Crime whilst Róisín Murphy, Laurie Anderson and Peaches will bear their “gifts of music, insight and originality” as the Three Wise Women on 6 Music.