Iain Dale has departed the blogosphere.

It doesn’t come as a great surprise to Guido, Iain has been muttering about having had enough of it all for some time. We were competitors back in the day when he was supporting David Davis for the leadership of the Conservative Party and this blog was highlighting the potential of a little known chap called David Cameron. The smartest thing we did was decide to become allies rather than enemies. The competition has been friendly and in times of trouble that friendship has been relied on.

Iain has had an awful time from some parts of the blogosphere, yet he has done more to popularise blogging than any other blogger in Britain. He advanced the cause of blogging ceaselessly when it was far less mainstream than it is now. His annual guide to blogging is the reference book for the political blogosphere and he has encouraged bloggers of all stripes, publicising them with his Daley Dozen links which have brought many to first prominence.

In the words of ABBA, Guido would like to say: Thank you for the music…