Ed Miliband leader of the U.K. Labour party, has had surgery on his nose to deal with a sleep condition.

The operation – aimed at curing his sleep apnea, was successful, a spokesman said.

Sleep apnea is thought to affect over 180,000 people in the UK, and is more common among men than women.

It is a respiratory condition in which the throat repeatedly narrows or closes during sleep, stopping air getting into the lungs and waking up the sufferer.

Mr Miliband’s suffering was exacerbated by a deviated septum, upon which the operation was performed.

A Labour spokeswoman said: “The hour-long operation was done with the National Health Service and was performed at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in central London.

“He is now recovering for a few days before going on holiday with his family.

Sources close to the Labour leader have dismissed media speculation that he was hoping the operation would make his voice sound less nasal.

One source who spoke to him after the operation said he sounded “exactly the same”.

Originally published BBC UK