The long-serving presenter of BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Nick Clarke, has lost his battle with cancer aged fifty-eight.
Clarke, who had presented the lunchtime news and analysis slot since 1989, was diagnosed with the disease last December and had to have a leg amputated during his treatment.
He started his career with the BBC as an industrial correspondent in 1973 before moving on to the Money Programme and Newsnight. Aside from his work on the World at One, Clarke latterly chaired several Any Questions? debates as well as the Round Britain Quiz. In 1999, voted Radio Broadcaster of the Year by the Voice of the Listener and Viewer.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson told the BBC News website, "I am deeply saddened by this news. 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. Nick's interviewing style was penetrating but unfailingly courteous."
Clarke is survived by his wife and twin sons, as well as three children from a previous marriage.