team. It was announced on 12 December 2008 that he would leave the programme in September 2009, to be replaced by Justin Webb. This announcement was greeted with widespread public dismay not least because Stourton found out about it from a journalist rather than his employers. Following a campaign by listeners, it was announced on 27 December 2008 that he was not being sacked. Instead, shortly after Justin Webb joined the Today Programme in August 2009, Stourton moved from presenting duties to reporting on foreign stories. Stourton presented Today for the last time on 11 September 2009. Since leaving his presentation role on the Today programme, Stourton has joined the presenting teams of The World at One and The World This Weekend. On 27 December 2006 he appeared on the celebrity charitable edition of BBC One's Mastermind, chaired by his BBC Radio 4 Today co-presenter John Humphrys. When asked his name, Stourton replied: "John, why do you need to ask that? We almost sleep together!" His specialist subject was Pope John Paul II on which he scored 17 points, for a total of 28 points after general knowledge to win his heat. Religious programmes Stourton is a Roman Catholic who regularly presents Sunday, Radio 4's religious and ethical current affairs programme. Personal life Stourton is a descendant of the 19th Baron Stourton and in very distant remainder to this barony presently held by his cousin James Stourton, 28th Baron Mowbray. He is the son of Nigel Stourton CBE, who worked for British American Tobacco, and Rosemary Abbott, being brought up near Patrick Brompton. In Kensington in 1980, he married Margaret McEwen, the daughter of Sir James Napier Finnie McEwen, a baronet. They had three children together before divorcing. He married former colleague Fiona Murch on 8 November 2002 at Chelsea Register Office. She was an editor for BBC Two (producing the Correspondent programme, in which Stourton featured, although he left the programme) with whom he had lived from 2001. They live in Stockwell, south London. He is a Roman Catholic and has an extensive knowledge of the Roman Catholic faith. Publications John Paul II: Man of History (Hodder & Stoughton) 2 April 2006 In the Footsteps of St Paul (Hodder & Stoughton) 20 May 2004 Absolute Truth: The Catholic Church Today (Viking Press) 1 October 1998 It's a PC World: What It Means to Live in a Land Gone Politically