39 Notable alumni of
Birmingham City University
Updated:
Birmingham City University is 1098th in the world, 392nd in Europe, and 77th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 39 notable alumni from Birmingham City University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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John Taylor
- Occupations
- composerrecord producerguitaristlyricistsongwriter
- Biography
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Nigel John Taylor is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s due in part to their music videos which played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV. Taylor played with Duran Duran from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He recorded a dozen solo releases (albums, EPs, and video projects) through his private record label B5 Records over the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in a half dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a reunion of the original five members in 2001 and has remained with the group since.
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Jonnie Irwin
- Occupations
- television presenterwritermanager
- Biography
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Jonathan James Irwin was an English television presenter, writer, lecturer, businessman, and property expert. He was best known for presenting the Channel 4 lifestyle programme A Place in the Sun between 2004 and 2021, as well as the BBC daytime programme Escape to the Country between 2010 and 2023.
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Frank Skinner
- Occupations
- autobiographertelevision actoractorcomedian
- Biography
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Christopher Graham Collins, known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His television work includes Fantasy Football League from 1994 to 2004, The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005, Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005, and Room 101 from 2012 to 2018. From 2009 to 2024 he hosted The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, broadcast live on Saturday mornings and released as a podcast. In October 2024 Skinner launched the Frank Off The Radio podcast, with the same crew as the radio show.
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Fiona Phillips
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Fiona Phillips is a British retired journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for presenting the ITV Breakfast programme GMTV Today.
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Shefali Chowdhury
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Shefali Chowdhury is a British actress best known for playing the role of Parvati Patil in the fourth, fifth, and sixth films in the Harry Potter film series.
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Laura Mvula
- Occupations
- jazz musicianrecord producer
- Biography
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Laura Mvula is a British singer. A native of Birmingham, England, Mvula gained experience as a member or leader of a cappella, jazz/neo-soul and gospel groups and choirs. She was classically trained. In 2012, she signed with RCA Records and released an extended play, She, to critical acclaim.
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Lyra McKee
- Enrolled in Birmingham City University
- Graduated with Master of Arts in digital journalism
- Occupations
- essayistwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Lyra Catherine McKee was a journalist from Northern Ireland who wrote for several publications about the consequences of the Troubles. She also served as an editor for Mediagazer, a news aggregator website. On 18 April 2019, McKee was fatally shot while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry.
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Gloria De Piero
- Occupations
- television presenterpoliticianjournalist
- Biography
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Gloria De Piero is a British broadcaster and former Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 2010 to 2019.
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Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani
- Occupations
- activist
- Biography
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Faezeh Hashemi Bahramani, better known as Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani is an Iranian women's rights activist, politician and former journalist who served as a member of Iranian parliament from 1996 to 2000. She is also president of Executives of Construction Party women's league and the former editor-in-chief of Zan newspaper.
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Kirsten O'Brien
- Occupations
- television presenterstand-up comedianactorcomedian
- Biography
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Kirsten Lindsey O'Brien is an English television, radio presenter and actress. She is best known for her work presenting for the BBC, including the CBBC art programme SMart from 1999 to 2009, the CBeebies pre-school art spin-off programme SMarteenies in 2002. Since 2024 she has been the presenter of BBC Radio Berkshire's mid-morning programme, and previously, the Breakfast Show.
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Nus Ghani
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Sussex Weald since 2024, having represented the predecessor constituency Wealden from 2015 to 2024. She has served as Chairman of Ways and Means, the senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons since 2024.
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Laurie Baker
- Occupations
- paramedicarchitect
- Biography
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Lawrence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker was a British-born Indian architect who focussed on cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his own experiences in the remote Himalayas, he promoted the revival of regional building practices and use of local materials; and combined this with a design philosophy that emphasized a responsible and prudent use of resources and energy. He was a pioneer of sustainable architecture as well as organic architecture, incorporating in his designs even in the late 1960s, concepts such as rain-water harvesting, minimizing usage of energy-inefficient building materials, minimizing damage to the building site and seamlessly merging with the surroundings. Due to his social and humanitarian efforts, his belief in simplicity in design and in life, and his staunch Quaker belief in non-violence, he has been called the "Gandhi of architecture".
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Dave Swarbrick
- Occupations
- musicianguitaristviolinistfiddlersinger
- Biography
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David Cyril Eric Swarbrick was an English traditional folk musician and songwriter who primarily played the violin. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second British folk revival, contributing to some of the most important groups and projects of the 1960s, and he became a much sought-after session musician, which led him throughout his career to work with many of the major figures in folk and folk rock music.
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Mark Williams-Thomas
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Mark Alan Williams-Thomas is an English investigative journalist, documentary maker, television presenter, podcaster and private investigator. Before becoming an investigative reporter, he worked as a policeman and family liaison officer with Surrey Police.
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Mike Amesbury
- Occupations
- politiciancouncil member
- Biography
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Michael Lee Amesbury is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Runcorn and Helsby (previously Weaver Vale) from 2017 until 2025. Formerly a member of the Labour Party, he was suspended in October 2024 and resigned his party membership in January 2025.
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Noel Quinn
- Occupations
- businesspersonbanker
- Biography
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Sir Noel Paul Quinn is a British banker who served as group chief executive of HSBC from March 2020 to September 2024, having first been appointed interim chief executive in August 2019.
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Khalid Mahmood
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Khalid Mahmood is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 2001 until 2024 when he lost his seat.
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Christine GZ
- Occupations
- racing automobile drivertelevision presenter
- Biography
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Christine Giampaoli Zonca, more commonly known by her nickname Christine GZ, is an Italian-Spanish rally and off-road race driver. After an off-road racing career in America, competing with the team Dynamic Racing, Zonca raced in Europe with the Avatel Telecom Race Team. In late 2020, Zonca scored a third place in the Andalucia Rally round of the FIA World Cross Country Championship.
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Jim Crace
- Occupations
- novelistshort story writerwriterplaywrightauthor
- Biography
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James Crace FRSL is an English novelist, playwright and short story writer. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999, Crace was born in Hertfordshire and has lectured at the University of Texas at Austin. His novels have been translated into 28 languages—including Norwegian, Japanese, Portuguese and Hebrew.
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Patrick Le Quément
- Occupations
- designer
- Biography
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Patrick Gilles Marie Le Quément is a retired French car designer, formerly chief designer of Renault. Born in France but brought up in the United Kingdom, Le Quément holds a BA Hons. degree in Product Design from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, and an MBA from Danbury Park Management Centre.
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Stephen Booth
- Occupations
- writerpet breederjournalist
- Biography
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Stephen Booth is an English crime-writer. He is the author of the Derbyshire-set Cooper and Fry series.
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Bunny Guinness
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 71)
- Occupations
- landscape architectjournalisttelevision presenterhorticulturist
- Biography
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Peta "Bunny" Guinness is a British chartered landscape architect, journalist and radio personality who is a regular panellist on the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme, Gardener's Question Time. She also writes a weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph. She presented The Great Garden Challenge on Channel 4 in 2005.
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Robert van 't Hoff
- Occupations
- architectfurniture designer
- Biography
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Robert van 't Hoff, born Robbert van 't Hoff, was a Dutch architect and furniture designer. His Villa Henny, designed in 1914, was one of the earliest modernist houses and one of the first to be built out of reinforced concrete. From 1917 he was an influential member of the De Stijl movement.
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Roger Hiorns
- Occupations
- draftspersonartistsculptorvisual artisttextile artist
- Biography
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Roger Hiorns RA is a British artist based in London. His primary media is sculpture and installation, using a wide variety of materials, including metals, wood and plastics. He also works in the media of video and photography.
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Luke Perry
- Occupations
- television presenterfilmmakersculptor
- Biography
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Luke Perry is an English artist known for his monumental sculptures most especially those celebrating under-represented peoples and the heritage of the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the Black Country. He is the director and chief artist of his non-profit company Industrial Heritage Stronghold.
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Henry Payne
- Occupations
- painter
- Biography
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Henry Albert Payne RWS, also known as "Henry Arthur Payne", was a British stained glass artist, watercolourist and painter of frescoes.
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Paul Bradshaw
- Occupations
- journalistblogger
- Biography
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Professor Paul Bradshaw is an online journalist and blogger, who leads the MA in Data Journalism at Birmingham City University. He manages his own blog, the Online Journalism Blog, and was the co-founder of Help Me Investigate, an investigative journalism website funded by Channel 4 and Screen WM. He has written for journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette, The Guardian's Data Blog, Nieman Reports and the Poynter Institute in the US. From 2010 to 2015 he was also a visiting professor at City University's School of Journalism in London. From 2015 to 2020 he worked with the BBC England data unit and since 2020 he has worked with the BBC Shared Data Unit.
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Ian Walters
- Occupations
- sculptor
- Biography
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Ian Homer Walters was an English sculptor.
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Mona Arshi
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Mona Arshi is a British poet and novelist. She won the Forward Prize for Poetry, Best First Collection in 2015 for her debut collection, Small Hands. She has also won the Manchester Poetry Prize. Her debut novel, Somebody Loves You, was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize.
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Stephen Lowe
- Years
- 1944-.. (age 82)
- Occupations
- Anglican priest
- Biography
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Stephen Richard Lowe was, until his retirement in July 2009, the suffragan Bishop of Hulme in the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, Link Bishop for Namibia and Chair of the Urban Bishops Panel. From 1988 to 1999 he had served as Archdeacon of Sheffield.
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John Shelley
- Occupations
- illustrator
- Biography
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John Shelley is a British illustrator, particularly noted for his work in Japan.
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David Prentice
- Occupations
- visual artistpainter
- Biography
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David Prentice was an English artist and former art teacher. In 1964 he was one of the four founder members of Birmingham's Ikon Gallery.
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Russell George
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Russell Ian George is a Welsh politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Montgomeryshire since the 2011 election. He formerly sat as a member of the Welsh Conservative Party, but now sits as an independent, after being suspended from the Conservative party in April 2025 pending trial for serious gambling offences.
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Alison Mardell
- Occupations
- air force officersolicitorlawyer
- Biography
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Air Vice-Marshal Alison Mardell is a British solicitor and retired Royal Air Force (RAF) officer. From 2017 to 2019, she has served as Director of Legal Services (RAF) and head of the RAF Legal Branch.
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Roger Jones
- Occupations
- composer
- Biography
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Roger William Jones is an English musician and composer of church music. Alongside writing cantatas and hymn tunes he leads workshops and conducts performances of his works both around the UK and in other countries.
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Paul Tilsley
- Born in
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United Kingdom - Biography
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Paul Tilsley CBE is a British local politician. He was deputy leader of Birmingham City Council and the senior Liberal Democrat in the council's ruling Liberal Democrat–Conservative coalition. As of 2023, he is the council's longest-serving member, and was previously Lord Mayor of Birmingham, in 1993–4.
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Paul McDonald
- Occupations
- literary critic
- Biography
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Paul McDonald is a British academic, comic novelist, and poet. He teaches English and American Literature at the University of Wolverhampton, where he also runs the Creative and Professional Writing Programme.
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Jack Rubinacci
- Occupations
- singercomposersinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Giuliano Alberto Brian "Jack" Rubinacci is an Anglo-Italian singer, musician, songwriter and author. His songs have been recorded or covered by several different well-known artists throughout the world.
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Jonathan Shaw
- Enrolled in Birmingham City University
- 2006-2007 graduated with Master of Arts
- Occupations
- photographeracademic
- Biography
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Jonathan Shaw is a British photographer and educator.
