Tragedy behind career of BBC's Westminster man

He is one of the most admired reporters on television - and is on the brink of becoming one of the best known.

Nick Robinson, political editor at ITV News, has just been poached by the BBC to replace Andrew Marr.

But few people know that when he was 18, he almost died in a car crash. The head-on collision killed Robinson's friends James Nelson and Will Redhead, son of former Radio 4 Today presenter Brian Redhead.

Mr Redhead went on to encourage Robinson in his efforts to become a journalist.

The three boys had been on holiday in north-east France when the accident happened. Robinson was about to go up to Oxford.

In the early hours of the morning the three were driving through Arras, near Lille, when their car, driven by Will, crashed head-on into another vehicle.

Two passengers in the second car, including an 11-year-old girl, are thought to have escaped uninjured. But the teenagers' car was engulfed in flames.

Robinson, who was in the back seat, suffered severe burns. A local paper reported that "his survival was in danger".

It was said that their vehicle had attempted an overtaking manoeuvre which led to the accident on the "long, straight road".

Will's death, which came shortly before his A-level results confirmed his place to study at Imperial College, devastated the Redhead family.

His twin sister Abby said: "A black cloud descended over the house. It was suffocating."

But Mr Redhead, who turned to religion after Will's death, said: "In a strange way, bereavement and sorrow enlarged my life and gave me an understanding I did not have before."

Robinson had already decided to go into journalism but redoubled his efforts after the tragedy, with Mr Redhead, who died in 1994, a constant support.

He said: "I suppose it makes it an even more emotional thing for me doing the job. He was always really supportive, even after his son's death."

Of his friendship with Will when both studied at Cheadle Hulme School in Cheshire, Robinson, 41, said: "When I walked past his house to get the train home, I'd often go in for my glass of milk and slice of chocolate cake and Brian was often there.

"He talked to kids like they were grown-ups. I grew up thinking, 'I'd like your job, please'. I was obsessed with politics."

Robinson rose through the Young Conservatives at university to become national chairman before starting as a trainee producer in the BBC. He was BBC News 24's chief political reporter before he joined ITN in 2002.