Yorke will be one of five guest editors

Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit, radio critic Gillian Reynolds and scientist Professor Stephen Hawking will also guest from 29 December to 2 January.

The five, invited by Today editor Kevin Marsh, will choose some of the issues to be tackled on the programme.

Meanwhile, presenter John Humphrys has signed a three-year deal with Today.

Humphrys has admitted behaving "unprofessionally"

The contract will see Humphrys present the programme seven days a fortnight, a BBC spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

There was speculation he had threatened to quit after a comment on the Iraq war by the Archbishop of Canterbury was cut from one of his interviews in October.

But a BBC spokesman said Humphrys had not "seriously considered" resigning from Today.

The programme's guest editors will be responsible for up to a third of each programme's output.

Staff editors will be in place to ensure their material is newsworthy, meets legal requirements and stays within BBC producer guidelines on taste and decency.

Lost temper

Editor Marsh said: "Judging from the letters and e-mails I get, everybody thinks they can edit Today. Well here's the chance for five of our better known listeners to prove it."

Professor Hawking said: "Today is the most influential programme on the radio so I welcomed the opportunity to raise issues I consider important."

Brick Lane author Ali said she liked a challenge.

"I don't think this kind of opportunity is going to come around very often," she added.

Meanwhile, in an interview in The Times on Tuesday, Humphrys said he had behaved "unprofessionally" when he lost his temper after learning that a pre-recorded interview he had conducted with Dr Rowan Williams was to be cut.

Towards the end of the bulletin listeners could hear Humphrys shouting in the background.

"I behaved in a most unprofessional manner, yes. Well you shouldn't lose your temper should you?" he said.

Asked whether he had threatened to resign over the affair, he said: "I was very, very cross and I did say things with hindsight I probably didn't mean."