Benjamin Wegg-Prosser

This article is part of the Lobbying Portal, a sunlight project from Spinwatch.

This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch.

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser is managing partner of Global Counsel, a London-based lobbying and advisory firm chaired by his old political ally Peter Mandelson.

He was formerly a special adviser to the Labour Party and Director of the Strategic Communications Unit at No. 10; a Director of Corporate Development at Russian new media firm SUP and a Consultant for The Ledbury Group.

Background

Wegg-Prosser graduated from Sheffield University with a Politics degree. From 1997 to 1998, Wegg-Prosser was special adviser to the Minister without Portfolio and later Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Peter Mandelson. He left that post following Mandelson's forced resignation in December 1998 after revelations about his home loan from then paymaster-general Geoffrey Robinson. After a brief stint at global media company Pearson Plc, Wegg-Prosser joined The Guardian in 2000, where he launched Public magazine, which was aimed at public sector readers.

2005, Return to No. 10

In July 2005, he left The Guardian after being appointed as Director of the Strategic Communications Unit at No. 10 (a role previously held by Peter Hyman and Godric Smith). In this role, he oversaw the launch of Downing Street's e-petitions service. The website was used by 1.5 million people to protest against road tolls, prompting one Government minister to brand Wegg-Prosser "a prat". He defended the innovation, saying it had been a "great success".

In 2008, Wegg-Prosser revealed that Peter Mandelson twice met Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in Moscow, while Mandelson was European Trade Commissioner. Wegg-Prosser said:

On one of his more recent trade trips to Moscow Peter spent a day at our dacha. We tried to go for a walk but it was -20C and we only got as far as the end of the path before turning back. We then went into Moscow and ended up having dinner with Deripaska. My main memory from the evening was the fierce disagreement, to the point of raised voices, that both men had on two issues. First, Russia's entry to the WTO. Peter wanted them to join, Deripaska didn't. Second, the tariffs which the Russians were imposing on Finnish timber imports. Peter said they were illegal, protectionist and wrong, Deripaska argued that they were a necessary defence mechanism to protect a key national industry in an emerging economy. Their friendship was founded on these sort of jousts and arguments.

Peter was a success in Brussels in part down to the network of contacts which he built up. And surprise surprise, that meant socializing with them.

2007, Joins Russian new media company SUP

In 2007, Wegg-Prosser joined the Moscow-based new media company SUP as Director of Marketing. Since August 2008, he has been Director of Corporate Development.

2010, Joins lobbying firm The Ledbury Group

In 2010, Wegg-Prosser was appointed as a New Media & Political Relations Consultant to the advisory board (or 'Leadership Panel') of lobbying firm The Ledbury Group. His responsibilities include "campaigning, corporate reputation and media management". He said: "The Ledbury Group has injected some much needed creativity into the communications market. It is a great challenger brand with exciting ideas and people."

Contact, Resources, Notes

Contact

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wpbenjamin
Blog: http://wpbenjamin.livejournal.com

Resources

• Fix your departure date now, Gordon, and give your legacy a chance, Wegg-Prosser article in The Spectator, 31st May 2008