MP's shock and sadness at losing voice after surgery

An MP says it was a "huge shock and a massive upset" to discover her voice had been damaged during an operation.

Anna Sabine, Liberal Democrat MP for Frome and East Somerset, said a nerve which controlled one of her vocal cords was damaged during recent thyroid surgery.

She is undergoing speech and language therapy and in the meantime said she was "just going to have to get known as the whispering MP".

Sabine added she was "very encouraged" by the fact presenter Nick Robinson, whose vocal cords were damaged during cancer surgery, was able to work on his voice and now presents podcasts and the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

Robinson wished Sabine luck with her recovery and said it was "rather emotional" listening to the MP's experience.

"I was more upset, more distressed by losing my voice than by having my cancer diagnosis.

"To think you would be in a room and just couldn't be heard at all, was pretty horrific, actually," he added.

The presenter was helped by speech and language therapists and described them as "saints".

"They coax you and they teach you to speak again and, in a way, the fact that I am now doing the job I am, as a radio presenter, is proof that it can work," he said.

Sabine added she knew training her other vocal cords to compensate for the damage would be "slow going" but she was "up for the challenge".

The MP said she hoped measures could be put in place to help her when she returned to Parliament.

"We'll hopefully come to some arrangement whereby I can either get microphoned up or someone can speak on my behalf," she said.

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