Ben’s journey from Labour to the Tories

Long-standing PB.C regulars who followed the end of the Donald Rumsfeld thread on Sunday evening will have been shocked to read the exchanges about Ben’s move from Labour to the Tories.

For Ben was one of the earliest, and at times most prolific, contributors to the site. For a long period ahead of the May 2005 General Election his regular and lucid postings added to many people’s understanding of how the contest was being seen by Labour campaigners.

In fact he seemed to know so much and post so often that a joke developed that he was not an individual it all – Ben, it was suggested, was a composite name for a whole group of people on the Labour campaign team. No one person could have such a detailed awareness of not just individual parliamentary constituencies but council wards as well – and this extended right across the country!

Since then we have only really heard from Ben when US politics have been discussed and here he has provided extraordinary insights. My bet on Mark Warner for the White House when the price was 40/1 was as a direct result of his expert view.

Changing parties is never easy, not the least because you feel you are letting your close friends down. We get a flavour of that on the thread.

Thanks for sharing this with us Ben and I hope you don’t mind me highlighting it here. You are so well known on the site that I am sure there is great interest in your new journey.

In the meantime I am delighted that Ben has accepted an invitation to write regular guest slots on US politics.

Mike Smithson