Gareth Butler

Last Thursday I linked to an excellent article Gareth Butler had written for Progress: http://progressonline.org.uk/Magazine/article.asp?a=2505

To the distress and shock of the many people in politics and journalism who knew him, Gareth died suddenly at the age of only 42 this weekend.

I didn't know Gareth as well as I ought to have done given our shared interest in political facts and figures, but had met him through my friend Jessica Asato, who he married last year.

Gareth's obituary, written by Jon Sopel, was in today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/04/bbc.radio

It's a tragedy that someone so talented and so liked by everyone he worked with should be lost at such a young age. My thoughts are with Jessica and the rest of Gareth's family at this sad time.