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Eddie Mair (born 12 November 1965) is a Scottish broadcaster who was a presenter on

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radio and television. He presented his show on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

between 4pm and 6pm every weekday until his last one, on 18 August 2022, after which he retired from broadcasting. He also hosted

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's daily news magazine '' PM'', the Radio 4 Saturday ''iPM'', and ''NewsPod''. He occasionally presented ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'' and ''

Any Questions ''Any Questions?'' is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience". It is typically broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 8 ...

''. Mair became a stand-in presenter for ''

The Andrew Marr Show ''The Andrew Marr Show'' is a Sunday morning talk show presented by Andrew Marr. It was broadcast on BBC One from 2005 to 2021. The programme replaced the long-running '' Breakfast with Frost'' as the network's flagship Sunday talk show when D ...

'' following Marr's stroke. Mair left the BBC in August 2018.

Early life

Mair was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. His amateur broadcasting career is reported to have started by using the

public address system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

in his school, Whitfield High School, (now Braeview Academy School) in the Dundee housing scheme, Whitfield.

Career

Mair's professional career began after he rejected a university place in order to present on

Radio Tay Radio Tay is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Tayside and northeast Fife in Scotland. Radio Tay is owned and operated by Bauer Radio, based at studios at 6 North Isla Street in Dundee and forms part of Bauer’s Hits Radio ...

, a local Dundee station. Mair joined the BBC in 1987 as a sub-editor for

Radio Scotland Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave (242 metres), created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was on the former lightship L.V. ''Comet'', which had been fitted out as a radio station in ...

. He moved on to present ''Good Morning Scotland'' and ''

Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. History Although BBC Television was established in Scotl ...

'', then ''Eddie Mair Live'' in the mid-morning slot for Radio Scotland. In 1993, he hosted '' Breakaway'', the weekly 'travel and leisure' programme on

. He then joined

Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

when it began in 1994 presenting the ''Midday with Mair'' news show. From 1996 to 2000, he presented the BBC/ PRI programme ''The World''. Mair was the host of the Sunday current affairs programme ''

Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...

'' from its launch in April 1998, until 2003, when he took over ''PM'' and

Fi Glover Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British BBC journalist and presenter who formerly presented the ''Fortunately'' podcast, '' The Listening Project'' for BBC Radio 4 and ''My Perfect Country'' for the BBC World Ser ...

became presenter of the weekly show. On both programmes, Mair mixed serious journalism with witty and satirical commentary. After reading out the weather forecast, he would invariably encourage listeners with a jaunty "Do wrap up", whether the forecast was cold or warm. After

Nick Clarke Nicholas Campbell Clarke (9 June 1948 – 23 November 2006), was an English radio and television presenter and journalist, primarily known for his work on BBC Radio 4. Biography Clarke was born in 1948 in Godalming, Surrey, and educated at Westb ...

died in 2006, Mair substituted for

Jonathan Dimbleby Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby. ...

as the presenter of ''

''. Standing in for

Andrew Marr Andrew William Stevenson Marr (born 31 July 1959) is a British journalist and broadcaster. Beginning his career as a political commentator, he subsequently edited ''The Independent'' newspaper from 1996 to 1998 and was political editor of BBC N ...

on his Sunday morning show on 24 March 2013, Mair interviewed London Mayor

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

asking critical questions about past known misdeeds such as lying to a minister and commenting: "you're a nasty piece of work".

Patrick Wintour Patrick Wintour (born 1 November 1954) is a British journalist and the diplomatic editor of ''The Guardian''. He was the political editor of ''The Guardian'' from 2006 to 2015 and was formerly the newspaper's chief political correspondent for t ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' commented that "Johnson's reputation had taken a severe pounding", while

Dan Hodges Daniel Pearce Jackson Hodges (born 7 March 1969) is a British newspaper columnist. Since March 2016, he has written a weekly column for ''The Mail on Sunday''. Prior to this, he was a columnist for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and in 2013 was descr ...

in his Telegraph blog thought Mair's approach was a "disgrace". Johnson himself said that Mair had done a "splendid job". Mair has also presented ''

'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

and ''

The 7 O'Clock News ''The 7 O'Clock News'' is a British news programme. It was the main news programme broadcast each weekday at 7:00pm, on British digital television channel BBC Three between 9 February 2003 to 2 December 2005. Originally called ''The News Show'' f ...

'' on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

. On ''PM'', Mair had a long-running on-air feud – real or simulated – with

Robert Peston Robert James Kenneth Peston (born 25 April 1960) is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the political editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show ''Peston'' (previously ''Peston on Sunday''). From 2006 u ...

, the

...
's former Economics Editor. For

leap day February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mo ...

in 2012, Peston co-hosted the ''PM'' programme with Mair, and, in 2015, they co-hosted the show "The Robert Peston Interview Show (With Eddie Mair)" Mair was the original host of the 2003

series ''

Time Commanders ''Time Commanders'' is a technological game show that originally aired on BBC Two from 4 September 2003 to 13 March 2005 with Eddie Mair hosting the first series and Richard Hammond hosting the second series. It returned for a 3-part special on ...

''. From 27 to 30 October 2014, Mair guest presented four editions of ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' with

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. On 29 February 2016, to the accompaniment of

Nat 'King' Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

playing ''Let There Be Love'',

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for t ...

proposed marriage to Mair live on Radio 4's ''PM'' programme, in line with the tradition that women may propose marriage on one day only – 29 February. In the same spirit of gentle humour, he promised to think about it and give her an answer in 2020. Mair's BBC earnings were between £300,000 and £350,000 for the 2016-17 financial year. ''

'' reported that he refused to take an earnings cut as part of the BBC's gender equality adjustments made in 2017 and 2018. Mair denied this, writing in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', "None of my thinking has been influenced by the BBC's pay problems. I'd offered, in writing, to take a cut. It tickled me to read sometimes that I was apparently refusing. The first article appeared before we'd even discussed pay, and later it was said I was staying off work in some kind of protest: in fact, as RT adio Timesreaders know, I was in hospital trying to avoid sepsis." Mair was also the initial presenter of BBC's podcast about the

Grenfell Tower Inquiry The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It was ordered by Prime Minister Theresa May on the day following the fire. May announce ...

, up until part 48 of the podcast, which in May 2021 was still reporting on the inquiry about the fire in

Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to ...

in London. Starting from part 49, Mair was no longer presenting this podcast. On 1 July 2018, Mair announced that he would depart the BBC, presenting his last ''PM'' show on 17 August 2018. The following day it was announced that Mair would be joining

; his first show for the station will be broadcast in September 2018. In fact, Mair presented his final ''PM'' show on 8 August 2018, although he did not acknowledge this during the broadcast. The next day, Mair emailed the ''PM'' team to say:

" ..I want to tell you about what happened just after PM finished last night. As you may know, we finished the show with a full rendition by Willie Nelson of 'Bring Me Sunshine'. It was, in keeping with the tradition of PM, a suggestion by a listener. Making the show yesterday had been tortuous for everyone on a quiet news day but in the end, I think we made something pretty good. Eloise and I looked at each other after the meeting and agreed that there was no way to match that for a last Eddie programme. So, that's what it was…my last PM. It felt right then and it feels right now. No fuss or faff, just as I wanted. Genuinely unplanned, and with its origins in a listener idea. Perfect. Or as close to perfect as we're likely to get. I hate saying goodboo. Sorry…goodbee. No…goodbiy. Dammit. I still can't say it."

In August 2018 it was announced Mair was to take over drivetime Show on

from

Iain Dale Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author and political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. In 2005, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to c ...

after he moved to evenings in a new autumn schedule for the station. On 3 September 2018 he started to present the show Monday - Friday 4-6pm. On 24 March 2022, Mair announced his intention to retire from LBC that coming August. He presented his last LBC show on 18 August 2022.

Awards

In 2005, Mair won the News Journalist award at the

Sony Radio Academy Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

. He has also won a Sony Award for Speech Broadcaster of the Year, Best Breakfast Show and was nominated for two Sony awards for ''Midday with Mair'' on 5 Live. In 2012, Eddie won a Gold award at the Sony Radio Academy Awards for his interview with Julie Nicholson, who lost her daughter Jenny in the London bombings of 7 July 2005. The '' PM'' programme also won a Gold award the same year for its coverage of Hosni Mubarak's resignation as president of Egypt. Mair was listed as the fifth most powerful person in British radio in a 2005 poll in the ''

'', and 28th most influential

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

person in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

s ''Pink List'' 2013.

References

External links

Eddie Mair on LBC
The Guardian, 12 June 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mair, Eddie 1965 births Living people BBC Radio 4 BBC Scotland newsreaders and journalists British reporters and correspondents Scottish LGBT people British LGBT broadcasters People from Dundee Scottish radio personalities Scottish television presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC Radio 4 presenters BBC Radio Scotland presenters Journalists from Dundee LBC radio presenters