Mishal Husain's on-screen clashes with MPs Nigel Farage and Kemi Badonoch over their policies are making the headlines. The BBC presenter grilled the new Reform UK leader on immigration – a line of questioning which he said 'was getting rather silly' – and left Kemi, Conservatives’ Minister for Women and Equalities, tongue-tied over the Tories’ plans to amend equality laws. ‘Cool, calm and precise' is how Mishal been described, as is fast becoming the interviewer politicians dread to be questioned by.
As she prepares to host BBC’s first Election Debate on Friday (7 June), we look at how she’s gained her formidable and fearless reputation.
Who is Mishal Husain?
Mishal, 51, is a presenter who is best known for fronting Today on BBC Radio 4. Joining a male dominated team, she was the first ethnic minority woman and the first Muslim presenter on the show. Mishal's mother was also a journalist, who worked as a producer for Pakistan Television Corporation while her father was a doctor. Her grandfather is Syed Shahid Hamid, the first Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.
Mishal's family moved to the United Arab Emirates when she was two, where she was privately schooled at the British School in Abu Dhabi. When she was 12, she returned to England for boarding school at Cobham Hall in Kent and studied Law at Cambridge University, before she completed a Master’s degree in International and Comparative Law at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
She joined Bloomberg Television in 1996 as producer and presenter, before getting her big break at the BBC, where she made a name for herself and quickly moved up the ranks. She made her debut on Today in October 2013 alongside John Humphrys.
During her career, Mishal has interviewed top political leaders and high-profile names such as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Her tough interviewing style is appreciated by viewers and colleagues alike. Her colleague Nick Robinson says, ‘With her, someone in power is held to account in a way that is courteous and persistent. It’s about the wielding of the scalpel, not the bloodshed.’ Politician Sajid Javid, who’s been interviewed by Mishal several times, said, ‘Mishal is bloody good at her job’, while her former colleague Jon Sopel added, ‘She’s incredibly hard working. Her lack of flashiness, lack of performance is great.’
What other work has Mishal done?
She wrote The Skills – How To Win At Work, a guide for women on how to achieve their career goals, in 2018. It was described as ‘the ultimate handbook for women’. And she is exploring her family history in her new book Broken Threads, which is out tomorrow (6 June).
Mishal also appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in 2010, where her specialised subject was CS Lewis’ Narnia books.
How much does Mishal earn?
She’s one of the BBC’s highest earners, with a salary between £315k to £319,999. In 2017, it was revealed that she was only half the salary of her Today colleague John Humphrys. He was being paid between £600k-£649,999 while she was earning between £200k and £249k.
What about Mishal's home life?
Married to lawyer Meekal Hashmi, the couple, who live in north London, have three sons who were born within two years – Rafael is at university while twins Zaki and Musa are sitting A-Levels.
‘I married a decent human being,’ she said of her husband in The Skills, adding that he ‘pulls his weight at home’.
But she admitted that the juggle wasn’t easy. ‘I look back and I think I did some mad things. Beijing Olympics, summer of 2008, I still had three children in nappies,’ she said. ‘It was intense. I was probably trying to do everything at the same time.’
Keep up to date with all of Grazia’s election coverage by joining our WhatApp group here https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VabK1KWCRs1ebOj4ie1d