John Cole, the
BBC's former political editor, has died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Surrey, aged 85.
Cole was familiar to a generation of viewers for covering major stories during the Margaret Thatcher era, including the miners' strike and the Brighton bombing.
A former deputy editor of
the Guardian and
the Observer, Cole retired from the BBC in 1992 after more than a decade at the corporation.
"While many people will remember John for his journalism and broadcasting, for us he was the most loving, funny and devoted husband, father and grandfather," his family said in a statement on Friday morning. "We will miss him terribly, but have so many memories of the tremendous happiness he has brought into our lives."
He is survived by his wife, Madge, four sons – Donald, Patrick, David and Michael – and nine grandchildren.
An erudite and incisive political journalist, Cole guided viewers through a tumultuous period in British history during Thatcher's time in office.
He quickly became distinctive for his trademark overcoat and Ulster brogue, which drew satire from Private Eye and the ITV show Spitting Image.
Cole was born in Belfast on 23 November 1927 into a Protestant unionist family. He embarked on a distinguished career in
newspapers at the age of 17, when he joined the Belfast Telegraph, before moving to the Guardian, then based in Manchester, in 1956.
His arrival at the BBC in 1981 was "by accident", he once remarked, adding: "Us modern Presbyterians don't believe in predestination, but on this occasion I thought I'd give it a whizz."
That proved to be a great understatement, with Cole charting the course of British politics from 1981 to 1992 often from the heart of the action.
He was in Brighton in 1984 when an IRA bomb exploded at the Grand hotel, memorably securing a pavement interview with Thatcher who insisted stoically that the Tory party conference would go ahead despite the blast.
News of Cole's death was marked with tributes from leading figures in politics and broadcasting.
David Cameron's official spokesman said: "The prime minister is deeply saddened by the news and would send his condolences, of course, to Mr Cole's family and friends. He is someone who contributed so much to British political life."
The BBC's current political editor,
Nick Robinson, tweeted: "Sad news. The man I learnt so much from, the BBC's former political editor John Cole, has died. He shaped the way all in my trade do our jobs."
John Humphrys, the anchor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said he was delegated to put Cole through his paces in the studio when the then-Observer journalist applied to be the corporation's political editor in 1981.
"I reported back to my then-bosses that, although I thought he was an absolutely brilliant political journalist and the nicest person in the world, I didn't think we should employ him as the on-air political editor because people would simply find it too difficult to understand his accent," he said on Friday. "Mercifully they ignored my advice completely. Of all the massive errors of judgment I've made, that was probably my biggest. He turned out to be a great star."
Humphrys described Cole as an enormous asset to the BBC thanks to his commanding knowledge of politics, but importantly because he could relate to viewers. "The thing about John was people really liked him. That sounds almost silly and trivial for someone doing his job, but he broke through and that's incredibly important," he said.
"People related to him as a warm and decent human being. They could see he was a decent man. His humanity was there and it came across. In the end it doesn't matter how brilliant a hack you are, if people can't relate to you then you don't succeed.
"And there's a difference between becoming a personality – anyone can do that if you're on telly enough – but in the case of John, people felt they knew him and liked him. It's not essential to be liked but it is for people to relate to you."
Before joining the BBC, Cole was successively labour correspondent, news editor and deputy editor at the Guardian before joining the Observer in 1975.
Peter Preston, the Guardian editor between 1975 and 1995, on Friday described Cole as a "very tremendous" journalist who people trusted. "It's easier to remember him with that overcoat that made him a national figure of fun and admiration but he was a very formidable correspondent and news editor and a tremendous help not just to me but to Donald Trelford [the Observer editor from 1975 to 1993]," he said.
"If you look back long ago at the Guardian, when we came down from Manchester and were struggling to become a professional newspaper making a professional newsdesk, John took over when things were very competitive and very difficult. He put together a very good team of people with very small resources and got a good stream of stories and coverage."
It was a surprise when Cole won plaudits in the world of television having come from the newspaper industry, Preston said, describing his appointment as a "brilliant decision" by the BBC.
"The BBC spends a great deal of time trying to make us believe that it is the broadcasting service for all of Britain. Well, good for that – but I always thought that every time John opened his mouth he actually said: 'Look, I'm not part of any BBC stereotype. I am the British everyman', and I thought that was tremendously valuable."
Jeremy Vine, the BBC presenter, described Cole as "one of the most gifted broadcasters ever" and the corporation's Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson called him "a journalistic legend".
Former prime minister Sir John Major said: "John Cole was one of the finest political correspondents of my lifetime, and a real credit to his profession. When John spoke, everyone listened.
"He was always well-informed, balanced - and trustworthy - and set the bar very high for all who followed."
