Brian Edwards (broadcaster)

Brian Finbar Myram Edwards CNZM (born 4 November 1937, Cork) is an Irish-born New Zealand media personality and author. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Edwards arrived in New Zealand in 1964, where he intended to lecture in German at the University of Canterbury. After three years he quit this role and embarked on a career in the media.

Edwards is best known as a radio and television interviewer, and was the host of Radio New Zealand's highly rated show Top of the Morning from 1994 to 1999, a role which he returned to in 2006. He is also known for his television appearances, starting in the 1960s. Edwards has been a host of numerous television series, notably Fair Go (which he devised, and hosted for eight years), and in 2003 hosted his own talk show, Edwards at Large.

In the 1972 election he stood unsuccessfully for Labour in the National-held seat of Miramar. His campaign was derailed when the New Zealand Truth revealed that he was living in a de facto relationship while still married to his first wife; this was considered scandalous at the time.

Edwards is also author of numerous books, including a biography of Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark, an autobiography: Daddy Was A German Spy, And Other Scandals, published in 2008, and is also a prolific newspaper and magazine columnist. He holds an honours B.A. from the Queen’s University of Belfast and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh.

Edwards has twice won the Media Peace Prize for his work on radio and in print, and was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in 1999 for services to Broadcasting and Journalism. He currently runs a media training and communications consultancy in partnership with his wife Judy Callingham.

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