On behalf of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Speaker Edwin Poots sent condolences to Mr Reid’s family.

He said he was “held in the highest regard by the parties across the Assembly, and importantly the viewers, as a trusted and informed voice”.

In his previous career as a broadcaster, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Mike Nesbitt worked alongside Mr Reid for many years at UTV.

In an emotional tribute, the health minister said Mr Reid had faced his illness “with his usual good humour”.

He told the BBC’s Evening Extra that Mr Reid “never set out to be a broadcaster” but turned out to be “the most respected journalist I have ever met”.

Nesbitt further described Mr Reid as his “broadcasting brother”.

The SDLP leader Claire Hanna said Mr Reid was a “reassuring figure, who offered keen analysis with a comforting whit and easy charm, though he suffered no fools”.

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said that Mr Reid was “part of the political lives of so many for so long” and was “respected by all sides”.

Baroness Foster, the former first minister, said Mr Reid’s death was “incredibly sad news”.

She told BBC News NI that he was “one of the last great interviewers of the Belfast Agreement time”.

“He was a great character… he was incredibly down to earth,” she said.

The former BBC NI Political Editor Mark Devenport said that Mr Reid was “a very astute journalist”.

Mr Devenport added that he was “occasionally a rival who did me professional damage, but on a personal level we were always very good friends”.