BBC politics editor Nick Robinson to undergo lung surgery

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/28/nick-robinson-bbc-lung-cancer-surgery-politics

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The BBC’s political editor, Nick Robinson, is undergoing treatment after a tumour was found in his lung and will shortly undergo surgery to remove it.

Robinson, 51, hopes to be well enough to be back at work full-time to cover the general election campaign in the runup to voting on 7 May. The veteran broadcaster needs an operation to remove a bronchial carcinoid tumour from his lung, his agent said.

In a statement, she said Robinson, who is married with three children, would be “taking a short time off work” over the next few weeks.

“His doctors are aiming to get him back at work in plenty of time to cover the election campaign proper,” she added. “He and his family have asked that they now have the space and privacy he needs in order to rest and recover fully before returning to work.”

News of his illness sparked an outpouring of get-well messages on Twitter. Prime minister David Cameron tweeted his best wishes. “Sorry to hear you’ll be off for a few weeks. I wish you well – and a speedy return before the … election.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband posted: “Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail soon.”

Tim Shipman, political editor of the Sunday Times, said: “Every hack in the land crossing their fingers for the great @bbcnickrobinson who is having treatment for a tumour on the lung.”

Robinson’s colleague, Chris Mason, a BBC political correspondent, said his editor “sets the pace in political broadcast” and wished him a speedy recovery. A BBC spokesman said: “Everyone at the BBC wishes Nick a speedy recovery.”

Robinson responded to his 350,000 Twitter followers: “Thank you for the many kind and generous messages. Here’s hoping to be back reporting the news soon.”

Carcinoid tumours, a type of neuroendocrine cancer, are rare and tend to be slow growing, sometimes not causing any symptoms for several years, according to Cancer Research UK. Around a quarter start in the lung and typically do not spread to other parts of the body. They usually occur in men over the age of 60, and the vast majority start in the gut or stomach. Unlike other lung growths, carcinoid tumours are not thought to be linked to cigarettes. It is not thought the journalist is a smoker.

In a 2009 interview with the Guardian, Robinson said doctors told him he was “more healthy than I deserve to be”.

Asked about his attitudes to smoking, he added: “I hate it. My parents smoked, [but] they gave up. I was the sort of irritating child who used school art classes to make anti-smoking propaganda.”

Last week, it was announced that the broadcaster would be teaming up with the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, and others to take part in a CBBC television programme designed to explain the workings of democracy to young viewers.

Six pupils at a London primary school are to be filmed campaigning for the position of headteacher and Robinson is to be one of those on hand to give the candidates advice on policies and strategies. He joined the BBC in 1986 as a trainee producer and has been in his current role leading the corporation’s Westminster coverage since 2005, having left the BBC for ITV for a short period.