I am old enough to remember John Sergeant as a formidable political editor who knew his subject intimately and shared his wisdom generously. Nick Hopkins of the Guardian thinks he will be remembered for performances only slightly less agile than his microphone handling on the day Lady Thatcher failed to win the first round of the 1990 Conservative leadership ballot.

 According to Nick JS is an icon who will attract young people to journalism like cheese draws mice to traps. He warns us to expect a “Sergeant effect.” Likely? I make no prediction, but I do suggest that copying Mr Sergeant’s fondness for newspapers (apparently he’s been criticised for reading them on the set of Strictly Come Prancing) will help budding reporters a lot more than emulating his cha-cha-cha.