Mike Graham (journalist)

Archibald Michael Graham (born 9 August 1960) is a British journalist and broadcast commentator, who presents The Independent Republic of Mike Graham on Talkradio. He was formerly the editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror^[1][2] and Programme Director and mid-morning presenter of The Independent Republic of Mike Graham on Talk 107, the Edinburgh sister station of Talksport.^[3]

Early life[]

Graham was born in Hampstead, London ^[4] to Scottish couple Archibald Graham (1923–2008), a newspaper graphic artist, and his wife Mairi McAleavey (born 1924).^[5] Both the young Graham and his older sister attended local schools in the London Borough of Camden.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

Before his radio career, Graham was a Fleet Street journalist for the best part of 25 years.^[6] He was editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror and assistant editor of the Daily Express.^[2] He covered the Bosnian War in 1992 as a reporter for the Daily Express.^[7] Graham was based in New York City from 1984 to 1992. While in New York, he ran his own news agency, supplying news, features and pictures to international media.^{[citation needed]}

Graham joined UTV's former Scottish radio station Talk 107 in February 2006, anchoring the mid-morning slot 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with "The Independent Republic of Mike Graham".^[2][8] In November 2006, he was also appointed the station's programme director.^[9][10] In 2008, his contract was not renewed at Talk 107 and he started broadcasting on UTV's national talkSPORT radio station^[3] in the 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In April 2010 he presented the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. slot every Friday and Saturday night, replacing George Galloway, as well as continuing to present the Monday 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot. In July 2010 he moved from weekends to weekdays, presenting alongside Mike Parry as "Parry and Graham" from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.^[11]

Graham's future with Talksport seemed uncertain after co-host Mike Parry resigned from talkSPORT as a result of a contractual dispute,^[12] in March 2011 he took over talkSPORT's midweek 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., "Extra Time". In October 2013 Parry returned to broadcast alongside Graham, debating "a host of issues"^[13] as a segment of "Extra Time" known as "The Two Mikes", which evolved into a regular three-hour slot headlined as "The Two Mikes" from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.^[14] In 2015 Graham and Parry launched their Two Mikes 'World Tour' at venues throughout Britain.^{[15][16][17][18]} In 2015, "The Two Mikes" were named as "Alternative Men of the Year" by the Daily Telegraph.^[19] Their most recent slot was on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on talkSPORT. Their last Radio show on Talksport was 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on 29 March 2019. In April 2019, The Two Mikes disbanded; the first sign of the pair breaking up was the ending of their TMTV online shows. Mike Graham announced on Twitter "he was done" and therefore the team have split. Since then he has presented a solo show daily on talkRADIO between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., playing, in contrast to his previous work, the role of a pro-Brexit commentator.^[20]

In 2017, Graham was the subject of controversy after making a post on Twitter in which he called Liverpool F.C. fans "murderers", in the context of the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster.^[21] He was also criticised in 2020 for referring to Celtic F.C as "the paedo's club" on Twitter, while engaging in a spat with a user of the social networking platform.^[22]

Personal life[]

In New York, Graham married, had two children and divorced. His daughter, Emma Graham, is a journalist based in the United Arab Emirates, working as a news and programming producer for CNBC. Graham's mother, Mairi, emigrated to Connecticut in the United States to be with her grandchild.^{[citation needed]}. He also has a sister living in the USA. Since returning to the UK he has had two further children.

References[]

External links[]

• Mike Graham on talkRADIO