Humphrys bows out as longest serving presenter in Today’s history

John Humphrys steps down from the Today programme as the longest serving presenter in the show’s history.

When he signs off – expected to be this week – he will have clocked up a total of 32 years and 260 days behind the Today microphone.

He made his debut on January 2 1987.

No other Today presenter has come close to matching Humphrys’ record.

The next longest serving host is Jim Naughtie, whose stint lasted 21 years and 291 days between 1994 and 2015.

Brian Redhead is third (1975 to 1993), followed by Sue MacGregor (1984 to 2002) and Sarah Montague (2001 to 2018).

Humphrys’ tenure on Today has spanned seven prime ministers: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

He has also survived eight different editors of the Today programme and seven directors-general of the BBC.

Today will celebrate its 62nd birthday at the end of October – meaning Humphrys has worked on the show for more than half of its existence.