Peter Mandelson in hospital overnight

Post-op Mandelson in “good form”

Post-op Mandelson in “good form”

By Alex Stevenson

Peter Mandelson has come through an operation dealing with a prostate problem, but will remain in hospital overnight for monitoring.

The first secretary of state will spend the night in Paddington’s St Mary’s hospital after what was described by a spokesman as a “routine operation”.

“He’s had the operation, he’s in good form,” a spokesman for Lord Mandelson said this afternoon.

“It’s being described as excessive prostate tissue, they removed excessive prostate tissue.”

The operation had been scheduled for some time. Enlarged prostates are common in men over 50 – around a third suffer from problems related to it.

This is the second time the 55-year-old lord president of the council has been in hospital in the last year. The day after his unexpected return to the Cabinet last October he was treated in St Mary’s for a kidney stone.

St Mary’s is the hospital where the 55-year-old was treated for a kidney stone last October, the day after his surprise return to the Cabinet.