'I was confused to read John Leonard on the BBC site saying "I'm delighted to see so many new names nominated this year."'

That is the same John Leonard who tried to pretend that Seth Lakeman's The White Hare was a traditional song, so there is fairly often a mismatch between what he says and reality.

The best way to shake up and change the Radio 2 Folk Awards would be to change the Executive Producer (Leonard). The same goes for the Radio 2 folk show itself. Smooth Operations have got very complacement and seem to have established some sort of tenure. Ten years is quite long enough and it is about time the BBC exercised Producer Choice and tried something and someone else.