Angela Eagle

Once described as "the listeners "champion", John Humphrys has spent 32 years of grilling interviewees on the Today programme.

from BBC Radio 4 's flagship news show as their longest-serving presenter.

His forensic approach is feared by politicians of all stripes, although his fighter has the style also made him a mixed picture.

He may even claim to have played a role in ending the career of his own boss - the former BBC Director-General George Entwistle in the year 2012.

In a bruising encounter with Humphrys after a Newsnight report, the abuse of incorrectly implicated a former Tory party Treasurer Lord McAlpine in a child scandal, Mr Entwistle was forced to admit that he was unaware Newsnight broadcasting the allegations.

Within 12 hours, he had resigned after only 54 days in The Job .

Humphrys Interview with the former Prime Minister Tony Blair , A Number of times during his entire political career.

In Mr Blair's last interview with his many years of interrogators, he said: "Despite all the scuffles we had over The Years , I respect the fact that You are good at your Job , and You are at the beginning of the facts.

"The fact that I'm worried about an interview with You a tribute to You - is not a Criticism . "

the Former Conservative Deputy leader Lord Heseltine describes in an interview with Humphrys as a "gladiatorial contest".

"He is out to catch You , You are, to your points," he says.

The Tory grandee in the face of Humphrys countless times as a minister under Margaret Thatcher and later as Deputy Director under John Major .

During this Time he developed a few strategies for dealing with it.

"It is very important to know what You wanted to say. Normally, I would have to wait my answers written down on a piece of paper on John's questions," he says.

"The trick is to know how the answers fit The Questions . "

Lord Heseltine is known, this approach was not always successful.

"did You know that, if I was in trouble, because I would say:" John, You 've asked the wrong question, the question You should have asked that'," he says.

"And Then , before he could get a word in, I would try to answer the question, I wanted to be asked. "

As he was blowing able to successfully Humphrys' defend, Lord Heseltine, says to the great entertainment of BBC colleagues.

"If John is not won on a knock-out, often The Interview was followed by peals of laughter from the BBC studio," he recalls.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has The Best tactic is to try and answer The Questions as directly as possible.

Now the house leader, he was also interviewed by Humphrys, in his previous role as Chairman of the pro-UK to exit the EU's European Research Group.

"He will not let You off with a wooly answer - he is very reckless to back to people who have not yet answered the question," he says.

"So You see, You could just answer the question, the First Time round. There is no beating around the Bush, there You can find the Bush, it turns out that a Burning Bush . "

As foreign Minister under Tony Blair , Jack Straw had War its fair share of quizzing by Humphrys, especially on the Iraq.

In 2005, he found himself by the defence of the government on the advice he received on the legality of The War - only 10 days before a General election.

"It was extremely difficult," he recalls. "John is a fast Bowler in this type of situation, You are very rare to score a six or a four, important as it is to protect their wicket. "

For particularly tough interviews, Mr straw says that he have a watch to keep track of him, how long he still had to be - although this could be thwarted if The Editor decided To Let The Interview carry on Time .

Nevertheless, Mr straw, in a way, it is preferred Humphrys' direct style of questioning.

"people say he's a rottweiler. What I was probably about him, he was there to do a Job - to-Minister in power at the centre," he says.

"I enjoyed The Challenge and the opportunity to be of my view about - face, the flaws in their arguments and, hopefully, an answer to this. "

But, Humphrys' interviews have not been immune to Criticism .

Some argue that frequent interruptions can prevent respondents from the end of your points, and counter-productive for The Listener .

shadow foreign Minister, Emily Thornberry , said that while it is important to press politicians for answers, sometimes Humphrys can take it too far.

In 2017, they criticised an interview with the shadow justice Minister Richard Burgon , where she claims the BBC presenter is interrupted and "grinned" in every answer he gave.

"As politicians, they tend to go to the media, if You have a message You want to convey," she says.

"This is when it can be frustrating if You canceled or the topic changed. "

sometimes, she says, Humphrys' aggressive line of questioning may miss. In particular, it leads to a 2016 interview with Labour MP Angela Eagle , where Humphrys asked whether You are a suitable candidate for the leader of the party, because she had cried during a radio interview.

But Ms Thornberry discovers his ability to hold politicians to account and "reflect the Frustration of The Public , especially in the pre-social media era.

"I think Humphrys comes from a Time where this was one of The Few ways The Public could interact with politicians," she says.

"He was to be his role as The Voice of The Public . "

Source of news: bbc.com