Mannion: Losing Robinson was an 'opportunity'

ITV's news chief David Mannion has described Nick Robinson's departure as a "bitter blow" for the network.

Robinson, ITV's political editor, was poached to take up the same role at the BBC following Andrew Marr's move to a new Sunday morning show.

"[It] was a bitter blow," Mannion wrote in the Independent today. "But when I stopped hurling heavy objects at the wall and the red mist cleared, it dawned on me that Nick's departure presented me with an opportunity to re-think how we do politics on ITV News."

ITV's new politics team was unveiled last week, with Tom Bradby taking the top position and Daisy Sampson joining as chief political correspondent.

"Tom and Daisy have huge star potential," Mannion declared. "They are well on the way to becoming household names already and if that helps to get political issues noticed, then that's another tick in another box. In the post-Nick Robinson era, our fresh, new team will try a few new tricks."

Primarily, Mannion thinks that his new team need to "get out more."

He explained: "I'll encourage them to travel up and down the land viewing politics from the other end of the telescope; testing whether what the politicians say makes sense on the ground, uncovering evidence to challenge the Parliamentary rhetoric and, yes, to applaud success where it exists."