'It never occurred to me to argue about salary': Fiona Bruce on leading the way for equal pay and why she's brushing up on Northern Ireland politics

Fiona Bruce pops up on my computer screen, looking like she's about to read the headlines. She is actually at home in Oxfordshire eating shortbread, but has instinctively assumed a power pose; arms stretched out, hands on the desk, just like on the News at 10. Her hair is even immaculately blow-dried - she's just been to the hairdressers and acknowledges "it's not bad". Bruce is lively company, sharing anecdotes about MPs, gleaned from her 31 years working at the BBC, and laughing conspiratorially when she tells me about the time that Amber Rudd felt awkward in the Question Time green room with Nigel Farage and suggested they put some music on to fill the silence.