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Benjamin Charles Wegg-Prosser (born June 1974) is managing partner of Global Counsel, a London-based strategic consultancy and lobbying organisation which has as its chair Peter Mandelson. Wegg-Prosser was Tony Blair's Director of Strategic Communications at 10 Downing Street.
Wegg-Prosser's father is the solicitor Stephen Wegg-Prosser. [1] His mother Victoria, née Bird, has been a producer for the BBC.
His grandfather Charles Wegg-Prosser was a parliamentary candidate for the British Union of Fascists before repudiating the party and joining Labour. After service in the British Army in World War II, his grandfather served as a councillor on the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington for many years in the 1940s and 1950s, and then an alderman. [2] [3]
Wegg-Prosser worked for Peter Mandelson before leaving in December 1998 and working briefly for media group Pearson PLC, before joining The Guardian in 2000. His father acted for Mandelson in the purchase of a home which was investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in 1999. [1]
At The Guardian he held positions as publisher of The Guardian’s politics website, general manager of the education website, and finally publisher of Society Guardian. As publisher of the latter he launched a series of brand extensions including conferences, books, magazines and new sections in the newspaper. [4]
From 2005 to 2007 Wegg-Prosser was Tony Blair's Director of Strategic Communications at 10 Downing Street, [5] where he oversaw a series of innovations including the launch of Downing Street's e-petitions service.[ citation needed ] He also implemented the first YouTube channel for any head of government, which Blair launched in April 2007. [6]
In 2007 he joined SUP Media, a Moscow-based digital media company, where he was Director of Corporate Development. SUP Media is a Moscow-based online media company which owns LiveJournal.com, Championat.ru, Gazeta.ru, +SOl and Victory SA. In 2008 he additionally became a consultant for recently created public relations company The Ledbury Group, focusing on new media and political relations. [7]
As of 2013, Wegg-Prosser is managing partner of Global Counsel, a London-based strategic consultancy which is chaired by Peter Mandelson. [8] In April that year, Wegg-Prosser became a director of the Labour Party supporting blog LabourList. [9] [10] [11]
In September 2013, Wegg-Prosser released internal 10 Downing Street emails about the internal fight in September 2006 to prevent Tony Blair being replaced as Prime Minister by Gordon Brown, which eventually happened in June 2007. [12] [13]
Wegg-Prosser is a funder of Labour Tomorrow, a campaigning group with several senior Labour Party figures on its board, which opposes the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. [14]
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the president of international think tank Policy Network, honorary president of the Great Britain–China Centre, and chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel. Mandelson is often referred to as a Blairite.
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist, known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director in opposition (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary, and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson (1997–2000). He then became Downing Street director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He returned as campaign director for the 2005 general election in Blair's third win.
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The soft left, also known as the open left, inside left and historically as the Tribunite left, is a faction within the British Labour Party. The term "soft left" was coined to distinguish the mainstream left of Michael Foot from the hard left of Tony Benn. People belonging to the soft left may be called soft leftists or Tribunites.
Patrick Bosco McFadden is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Labour National Campaign Coordinator since September 2023. He served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2021 and 2023. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 2005.
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"Tony's Cronies" was a term in British politics and media given to people who were viewed as being given positions of power because of their personal friendships with Prime Minister Tony Blair, during his premiership between 1997 and 2007. These included those granted life peerages and public positions based on their friendship with Blair rather than their individual merits. The phrase was created by the Conservative Party after the 1997 United Kingdom general election and was continually used in the media throughout Blair's premiership.
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LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campaign information, analysis and opinion from various contributors and sources across the Labour and trade union movement. It is funded by trade unions, adverts, and individual donors. LabourList started as a weblog with reader comments, but in February 2019 the ability for readers to write comments was removed.
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Charles Wegg-Prosser was a British politician and solicitor.
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