Broadcaster Colin Brazier has left journalism after 40 years, signing off from LBC without fanfare last week.
Brazier announced on Friday he was leaving the industry to study farming, a “dream” he has long held, at the Royal Agricultural University. His Twitter (or X) bio now describes him as a “trainee tractor driver”.
It means Brazier has left LBC, where he was presenting the weeknight programme from 10pm to 1am, after less than six months. He said it had been a “joy and a privilege to end my time in broadcasting” at LBC.
He had said of his new gig in April: “I’m incredibly chuffed to be joining a station that has redefined speech radio in recent years and spearheaded opinion-led broadcasting. LBC is now an indispensable part of the national conversation both on radio and in vision. It’s a privilege to be involved.”
Tom Cheal, LBC’s managing editor, had said that Brazier brought a “huge breadth of experience in news and politics, as well as a unique insight and fresh perspective on the stories making the headlines”.
Colin Brazier: from Sky News to GB News
Before LBC, Brazier worked at GB News from its June 2021 until he was ousted in a September 2022 schedule shake-up.
He did a stint hosting the 8pm slot that had belonged to Andrew Neil until that journalist’s premature departure from the channel, before moving to the 4pm drivetime programme at the start of 2022 to capture the traditional radio audience of that slot as part of the launch of the GB News Radio simulcast.
Brazier first joined Sky News in 1997 and worked in various roles, including presenter, Europe correspondent, political correspondent, covering the royal beat and reporting from Iraq, over the course of 24 years. He was Sky’s nominee for presenter of the year at the RTS Awards in 2014.
During that period, Brazier wrote for Press Gazette in 2016 about why the refugee crisis proved to be the biggest test for journalists in a generation.
One of his most controversial moments was when he looked through a victim’s suitcase at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines MH17. Sky News apologised but defended him, saying he had “immediately recognised that this was inappropriate and said so on air”, while broadcast regulator Ofcom described it as a “significant lapse of judgement” that breached its code but decided to take no action because of the apologies that had been issued.
Brazier’s first article published in journalism was for the Bradford Star, 40 years ago.
Brazier’s 10pm Monday to Thursday slot on LBC has been filled by Ben Kentish, LBC’s Westminster editor and Sunday afternoon presenter.
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