Nick Conrad

Nick Conrad
Nick Conrad on stage at 2013 Ghent European Conference.
Born	(1984-11-29) 29 November 1984 Norwich, UK
Residence	Sheringham, Norfolk
Nationality	British, Grenadian
Occupation	Broadcaster, journalist
Years active	1999–present
Employer	BBC
Spouse(s)	Emma Conrad
Children	Erin (b. 2014)
Website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003yjn5

Nick Conrad (born 1984) is a British radio and television presenter. He presents a daily phone-in programme on BBC Radio Norfolk in Norwich, which he describes as 'The biggest and brightest listen'. The programme has become the ‘home’ of current affairs and is popular amongst local MPs and politicians.^[1] "Conrad" also fronts weekly programmes on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire^[2] and BBC WM in the West Midlands and Black Country.^[3] These programme are branded 'The Sunday Supplement'. He used to present a once-weekly current affairs programme with London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3^[4][5] on BBC digital radio channel BBC 6 Music^[6] where he presented a Saturday night comedy programme between 2006 and 2007. Recently Conrad has been heard fronting political programmes on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Early life

Conrad was born on 29 November 1984 in the city of Norwich in Norfolk. He was raised in Sheringham, a coastal town on the North Sea.^[7]

Education

Conrad was educated at Sheringham High School, a state comprehensive school in the town of Sheringham in Norfolk and at Paston College in the market town of North Walsham (also in Norfolk), followed by the University of Central Lancashire in the city of Preston in Lancashire, often talking on air about his time there.

Life and career

In television, Conrad has worked on network formats for Five (Channel 5), Channel 4 and most prominently for ITV1 & ITV2, including fronting the television programme Tried & Tested. He has occasionally appeared on television chat shows including The Alan Titchmarsh Show and This Morning, and on more serious programmes such as Newsnight Review and programmes on Sky News channel. In 2011 and 2012 he was a presenter for BBC Look East. For two years Conrad contributed reports and presented the BBC One regional current affairs programme Inside Out' and guest presented The Politics Show. In 2012 he anchored Sky News. In his time on Rupert Murdoch's news channel he fronted the late news including Sky World News. In his career so far he has helped win three Radio Academy Awards. He was represented by London talent agent John Noel and Knight Ayton Management.

LBC Radio

Nick hosted a programme called ‘Young London’ on Global Radio’s talk network LBC Radio between late 2007 and 2012. The format of the show investigated Westminster politics from a younger perspective. His show followed the high profile Saturday Morning Political Show presented by former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and latterly former Conservative MP David Mellor. While on the station he also guest presented the ‘Travel Show’ for Simon Calder, The Friday Sex and Relationship programme as well as numerous special programmes at the weekend and bank holidays. Conrad’s broadcasting style led to frequent appearances on This Morning, ITV as a news reviewer and The Alan Titchmarsh Show, ITV and Loose Women, ITV as a guest. Conrad left LBC Radio in 2012.

Radio Moments

Conrad unwittingly found himself at the centre of a political storm in 2013. Senior political figures inside Norfolk County Council attempted to send the broadcaster sensitive information about a proposed 'Waste From Energy Plant' near King's Lynn, Norfolk.^[8] The leader of the Council, Councillor Derrick Murphy was accused of bringing Norfolk County Council into disrepute, due to the nature of the information. The email related to an ongoing political situation at King's Lynn Borough Council, also run by the Conservative Party. The fallout received significant media attention in numerous national newspapers. In 2013 a standard hearing found Councillor Murphy guilty of bringing the council into disrepute and forced his resignation. The same investigation concluded that Conrad had played no part in the matter as he was out of the country and never saw the original email.

Aidan Burley MP courted controversy commenting on the opening night of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. During the opening night performance, produced by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle Burley tweeted that the occasion was “leftie multi-cultural c---.” The following day Mr Burley appeared on Nick Conrad's BBC WM radio talk show and apologised admitting he was 'drunk' when tweeting.^[9]

in 2013 while on BBC Radio 5 Live Conrad started to receive calls suggesting a lion had escaped in St Osyth, Essex. As the programme continued the story developed and included appeals from Essex Police for residents to stay inside. A helicopter was dispatched to the scene but no lion was found. The broadcast included Conrad interrupting an interview on Gaza with the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell to update the listens on the news from Essex.^[10] In 2014 Norwich City Football Club Chief Executive David McNally (football) called Nick Conrad's programme on BBC Radio Norfolk to challenge fans who were calling for manager Chris Hughton to be sacked. In a live and 'frank' interview Mr McNally appeared to criticise Nick Conrad's analysis of situation as being a 'gamble'. Conrad appeared firmly of the opinion along with members of his 'sports reporting team' that the manager should be sacked. McNally said that if Norwich City Football Club were to enter the English Premier League relegation zone the manager would be 'removed'. When challenged by Conrad, asking "you're dicing with relegation by being indecisive" McNally responded by claiming "relegation would be worse than death". Within moments of making those comments the national media had started running the story. Hughton had to answer to journalists posing questions about his managerial future and whether he had the support of the board. Norwich were eventually relegated and Hughton sacked.^[11]

Europe

Conrad has participated in many political conferences in the UK and Europe. In 2013 he guest hosted the Eurocities conference in Ghent, Belgium on behalf of the Secretary General, Paul Bevan. Conrad brought together Sten Nordin, Mayor of Stockholm, Sweeden, Frank Mentrup Mayor of Karlsruhe, Germany, Zoran Janković (politician) Mayor of Ljubljana, Slovenia and the Mayor of Tampere Anna-Kaisa Ikonen. Conrad focused on new technology and social enterprises attracting tourists and business to European cities.The conference invited Eurocities to continue working together in 2015. Also in conversation with Conrad were Daniël Termont Mayor of host city Ghent, and Ahmed Aboutaleb the Mayor of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Termont and Aboutaleb discussed policing and security with Nick Conrad.^[12]

Personal life

Conrad has openly discussed his family life on air in a number of programmes and radio interviews. His mother was from the West Indian island of Grenada, his father is white British. His mother died in 1988. In reflection of his personal situation he often passionately expresses interest in matters of faith, family, heritage and multiculturalism in the UK. He regularly talks about the physiological effect of bereavement on his LBC 97.3 broadcasts. In an interview with Michael Daniels at the Lancashire Talks Festival in 2008 he gave a speech about being ‘young and opinionated in a politically silent generation’. He has given interviews and comments to various publications including The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times. His career has been featured in The Radio Times, London Evening Standard and frequently in regional magazines including Eastern Daily Press. He is a keen Norwich City F.C. fan and often talks of his love of the club on radio. He is a frequent contributor to cooking, historical and travel programmes.

Nick Conrad married his wife Emma in 2013. The couple have a daughter called Erin born April 1, 2014. They live between Sheringham on the Norfolk coast and the West Midlands.

References