Tributes paid to BBC journalist

Clarke had presented The World At One since 1989

Politicians and colleagues have paid tribute to BBC journalist Nick Clarke, who has died, aged 58.

The broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's The World At One, was diagnosed with cancer last year, and lost a leg during the course of his treatment.

He kept an audio diary of his experiences in hospital, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 earlier this year.

Director general Mark Thompson said he was "deeply saddened by this news" of Clarke's death.

"Nick was not only a terrific colleague, but also a great friend, whom I worked with over a number of years.

"He was one of the BBC's finest broadcasters and a brilliant political interviewer, who was also a great listener".

Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer said the broadcaster "embodied what Radio 4 stands for".

"Nick Clarke was a Radio 4 colossus," he added. "He was fearless, superbly informed, scrupulously impartial, and wonderfully charming."

"Nick Clarke will be remembered as one of the BBC's greatest ever broadcasters," said the corporation's deputy director general and head of journalism, Mark Byford.

"He was so greatly loved and admired by both his audiences and by his colleagues.

"Today my deepest sympathies go to his wife and family."

'Great loss'

Clarke returned to work earlier this year following chemotherapy

Tributes also flooded in from Clarke's colleagues on The World At One.

"Our listeners rightly saw WATO as Nick's programme," said editor Colin Hancock.

"They, his colleagues and public service broadcasting have suffered a great loss. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his wife Barbara and the family."

Producer Simon Elmes, who helped Clarke record his audio diary, Fighting to be Normal, said working with the journalist had been a "huge privilege".

"Until making the documentary earlier this year, I had only ever known Nick as a wonderful voice on the radio and a BBC party-acquaintance," he said.

"But working closely with him I felt the searing incisiveness of his journalistic intelligence, his fearsome honesty, not least about himself and his condition and - just as pervasive - his wry, often dark, sense of humour."

HAVE YOUR SAY This is very sad news. I enjoyed his brief return to the airwaves earlier this year and hoped that his illness was beaten Susan Wakefield, Petersfield Send your tributes

Outside the BBC, many of the politicians who had in the past been grilled by interviewer also paid their respects.

Prime Minister Tony Blair called Clarke a "true professional" and an "outstanding presenter".

"Over many years he represented the best elements of public service broadcasting in this country," he said.

"There was no point having a bust-up with him because he'd always win," said Leader of the Commons and former foreign secretary Jack Straw.

"Everybody in the political world and beyond knew his voice so well, but he never really hobnobbed or walked the boards around Westminster," added Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

"He never really developed his own celebrity and he always felt that was very important."

'Highly regarded'

Conservative Party leader David Cameron said: "Nick Clarke was a kind and thoughtful man and a great broadcaster. He got a lot out of the people he interviewed, not by hectoring but by asking thoughtful questions."

The party's policy chief, Oliver Letwin, added: "After many interviews and lunches with Nick Clarke, I can say I have never dealt with a journalist who was more acute or more honourable."

Jack Straw is among the politicians who paid tributes to Clarke

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Menzies Campbell called Clarke "one of the outstanding journalists of his generation".

"Always well-informed, persistent, authoritative, he had about him an air of class, really.

"In a profession which isn't always highly regarded, Nick Clarke was highly regarded by everyone."

Many listeners also contacted the BBC to pay their condolences.

"His was one of those Radio 4 voices that one felt comfortable with, because he simply carried so much authority," wrote Leonard Day from Cardiff.

"His voice resonated around my home for years," added Sue Cruickshank in the Scottish Highlands.

"What a deep sonorous baritone, and a marvellous interviewing skill. My sympathy goes to his wife and two small boys."

Clarke's wife Barbara requested that news of her husband's death was announced on Thursday's edition of World At One.