Career
Since January 2008 he has been the full-time editor of the site. As a result, The Daily Telegraph described him as the 33rd most influential over-50 on Twitter in 2014. Much of his early career was a British Broadcasting Corporation News journalist.
From 1977 to 1982 he represented the United Kingdom"s radio and television journalists on the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Since 1994 he has worked as Director of Development running the fundraising for five United Kingdom universities - for the London School of Economics from 1994 to 1996, for Cambridge University from 1996 to 1999, for Oxford University from 1999 to 2005, and for the University of York from 2005 to April 2007. He also had a spell at Open University.
During his university fundraising career he has overseen approaches that have led to more than £550m being raised. This included the $100m gift by James Martin to establish the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford - the largest ever single alumni donation to a United Kingdom university.
He is a former fellow of Queens" College, Cambridge and Magdalen College, Oxford.
He was twice elected in 1989 and 1993 as a County Councillor in Bedfordshire, and also in 1996 as a Borough Councillor in Bedford. He has not been active since then Mike"s brother is the film and television producer John Smithson.