Times Radio presenter reveals 'unofficial' partnership with Chorley in comical radio broadcast

Matt Chorley presents a weekday politics show on Times Radio and recently made the decision to pair his show up with the northern town that he shares his surname with.

He plans to trace people from Chorley to bring on his show for interviews and eventually he even hopes to pay a visit up north to do the show in a bid to 'give a voice' to people outside of the Westminster bubble.

The presenter said: "It was an idea that I had been considering for a while - I know Lindsay Hoyle quite well and I share the same name as the town, and I knew I wanted to do something and eventually even bring the show to Chorley, but Covid had stopped anything going ahead.

"Because Chorley are doing well in the FA cup, we recently spoke to their manager Jamie Vermiglio and then just decided that we wanted to continue speaking to people in Chorley, hearing their voices and that is where it all came from.

"You rarely hear from normal people on the station and it is important to see how politics affects people outside of London and in other areas. We wanted to have that close connection with somewhere new and will get people's reactions to national things going on.

"Chorley is a long way from the Westminster bubble and is politically, an interesting place. I want to find out what is going on elsewhere in the country and get that northern and homely feel that isn't usually represented.

"To be honest, it is also a bit of a laugh and I know it is utterly ridiculous because I haven't ever even been to Chorley, but we do really want to get a sense of how politics affects normal people in normal areas. Sometimes, a teacher or a landlord can really put their finger on something and we get a genuine response from them, not a formulated answer from a well trained politician.

"There are so many interesting stories coming from other areas and from an outsiders perspective, it will make the show even more fun. It is all about building up familiarity with Chorley and just being entertaining for our listeners."

Matt's show currently aires from Monday to Thursday, from 10am until 1pm, where he discusses politics 'without the boring bits'.

And on his Twitter page this morning, he shared a video with the deputy leader of Chorley council Peter Wilson as they unofficially declared the partnership between the town and his radio show.

Peter Wilson said: "I can proudly declare the official, unofficial twinning of the Matt Chorley show with the Chorley borough. Here's to a long and prosperous friendship."

The London-based radio presenter then went on to play a snippet of Chorley FC players singing and chanting Adele's 'Someone Like You' ballad, from their recent win over Derby County.

And taking an oath, he added: "I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of Chorley."

You can catch up with Matt's weekday shows at the Times Radio schedule.

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