Kay Alexander (born 4 June 1950) is a retired
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
regional
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
television
newsreader, best known for presenting ''
Midlands Today
''Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza.
Overview
''Midlands Today'' is produc ...
''.
Early life
Alexander was born and brought up in
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. Her mother was a
doctor
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
and her father was an
aeronautical engineer
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
and she has two brothers. After attending the independent
Frensham Heights School
Frensham Heights School is an independent school and sixth form college located near Farnham, Surrey, England, run by the registered charity, Frensham Heights Educational Trust Ltd. It was founded in 1925 and formed as part of the movement for ...
, Alexander read
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
at the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, gaining a degree in 1973. She started a
PGCE course which she did not complete.
Career
![BBC Pebble Mill, Birmingham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/BBC_Pebble_Mill%2C_Birmingham.jpg)
Alexander initially worked for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
at
Pebble Mill
Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne on ...
for
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' ...
(where she worked on ''
You and Yours
''You and Yours'' is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and produced by BBC News.
History
''You and Yours'' began broadcasting in October 1970, when its first presenter was Joan York. In the 1980s it briefly ra ...
'', ''Checkpoint'' and ''
Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
'').
She then worked on BBC ''
Midlands Today
''Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza.
Overview
''Midlands Today'' is produc ...
'' from the 1970s onwards, at one time being a main anchor. In 1992 she left the evening slot, and mainly presented the breakfast and lunchtime bulletins, three days a week. Her regular co-presenters included
Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to:
* Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor
* Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter
* Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer
* Thomas Coyne (cricketer) (187 ...
,
Alan Towers
Alan Towers (1934 – 24 May 2008) was a presenter of ''Midlands Today'', BBC Midlands' regional news programme.
Career
After stints as a newsreader with ITN and Granada Television in Manchester, Towers joined BBC Midlands in 1972 as a main prese ...
,
Sue Beardsmore
Susan Rita Beardsmore (born 19 February 1955) is a former BBC television presenter who fronted the regional news programme ''Midlands Today'' for twenty years.
Early life
Born in Bedford, Beardsmore attended the independent Dame Alice Harpur Sch ...
and
David Davies. In October 2003, the
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
presented her with a Special Award to mark thirty years in television.
Alexander, one of
the Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
' most popular and recognisable television faces, retired after presenting her last news bulletin on ''Midlands Todays lunchtime news on 30 October 2012, and the next evening appeared on air for the last time to receive her colleagues' congratulations. She presented a report about the 50th anniversary of television programme
Gardeners' World
''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2022 series is the 53rd. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...
that appeared on
Midlands Today
''Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza.
Overview
''Midlands Today'' is produc ...
on 16 June 2017 and was repeated several times on 18 June 2017 on the
BBC News Channel
BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...
.
Personal life
Alexander was until 2012 Chairman of the
Birmingham Assay Office
The Birmingham Assay Office, one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom, is located in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. The development of a silver industry in 18th century Birmingham was hampered by t ...
(the first woman to hold this position). During that time she became a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and a Freeman of the City of London. She is a former Director of the
Birmingham Hippodrome
The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.
Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including vi ...
and a Patron of
Acorns Children's Hospice
Acorns Children's Hospice Trust is a registered charity, offering a network of palliative care and support to life-limited and life-threatened children and their families across the West Midlands region and part of South West England. Acorns has ...
, the Mary Ann Evans Hospice, cancer charity Breast Friends and now
Age UK Birmingham
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
and
Age UK Sandwell
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
.
Alexander was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the
2013 Birthday Honours
The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...
for services to broadcasting and to charity in the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
.
In October 1988 Alexander married Brian Conway, a
Radio Leicester breakfast radio presenter and a presenter on the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
slot on ''Midlands Today'' from 1984–1990. She was previously married to a musician for sixteen years, having a daughter then a son in the late 1970s. In the 1980s she lived in the
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
suburb of
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...
. She currently lives near
Nuneaton
Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...
on the
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
boundary.
Birmingham Mail
/ref>
References
External links
BBC Midlands Today Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Kay
1950 births
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
English journalists
English radio presenters
English television presenters
Living people
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Frensham Heights School
Mass media people from Aldershot
People from Hinckley and Bosworth (district)