Nick Robinson is the BBC’s Political Editor

The Liberal Democrat Party has disposed of another leader, in circumstances that suggest he stormed off in a huff. The media (and his own colleagues) were taken by surprise by the sudden resignation of Sir “Ming” Campbell, who rushed back home to his wife in Edinburgh after leaving a note apparently saying “I quit”. It is the farcical end of a politician who, it seemed to me, came across as testy and irritable (a sort of Victor Meldrew figure).

“Ming” did not appear last night on Newsnight (even though Kirsty Wark suggested to his colleagues that the Liberals were becoming the new “Nasty Party”). “Ming” said nothing on the Today Programme this morning. By five o’clock however, the sulking had come to an end, and Sir Ming unburdened himself to Nick Robinson in an interview broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.

Nick Robinson is the BBC’s Political Editor, employed to appear on news bulletins and interpret the political events of the day. It is a role of great importance given the amount of “spinning” (news manipulation) that characterises activity at Westminster. The BBC news bulletins tell you what happened, then Nick Robinson comes on and tells you what really happened.

In many ways a political fact cannot be said to exist until validated by Nick Robinson (or at least, on television, that’s how it appears).

His style is slightly sardonic (perhaps reflecting a weariness with the volume of misinformation he has to wade through), impartial, fearless (no mean feat considering the retaliatory weapons government ministers can deploy), intuitive, informative, friendly. His tone contains a slight frisson of moralising, and you suspect he believes politicians are usually the architects of their own misfortune. His appearance does not seem to be influenced in any way by vanity - an old-fashioned bald head (rather than a Bruce Willis crop), heavy black glasses instead of contact lenses, often a practical rainmac rather than the designer clothes favoured on Channel 4 News.

He must be a considerable asset to the BBC at a time when it is seeking to rebuild public trust (incredibly the Corporation has run aground in the last six months after an exemplary eighty-five year record).



Above: an impersonation of Nick Robinson by political satirist Rory Bremner (to be satirised by Rory Bremner is confirmation of high status in public life). We are often told that only a few degrees of separation exists between ourselves and any other person on the planet. In Nick Robinson’s case this is almost true as Kim Blacha’s father met him when they were both students and competed (on opposing sides) in the Observer Mace debating competition (“we were all in suits and he turned up in just a jumper… everyone was calling him Red Robbo…”).

More on Nick Robinson: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/