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Local tea boy who became Fleet Street politics chief dies aged 74

Rob GibsonA journalist who served three regional dailies and went on to serve as a national political editor has died aged 74.

Rob Gibson started out as a tea boy on the Dorset Evening Echo and worked his way up to become political editor of the Daily Express.

Rob, pictured, also worked for the Bristol Evening Post and the Western Daily Press before moving to Fleet Street in the 1970.

There, he worked for Fleet Street News Agency, the Press Association and the Daily Star, where he was political correspondent.

Rob moved to the Express and remained there until the early 1990s. He then founded Gallery News, a wire service for organisations needing to keep abreast of Westminster, which he ran until 2016.

In 2006 he was voted chairman of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, the body which represents the 300 journalists working at Westminster.

Rob had been ill since 2016, which had caused him to be increasingly housebound, according to the Echo.

He is survived by his wife Ann, children James, Alexander and Katie, and grandson Edward.