From the desk of Benjamin Disraeli
It was a tremendous experience to present the Politics Show from the study of one of the Conservative Party's most flamboyant leaders, at Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire.
Disraeli would put modern spin-doctors to shame.
And the problems he wrestled with - Europe or Empire, the Irish question, Afghanistan - are strangely familiar.
His workload would be rather less familiar to modern politicians. He found the time to write novels, and spend the long summer recess wandering in the lovely woodland around his country home.
I was especially struck with the way that his red dispatch box would have taken just a select few of those beautifully written official documents on display in the museum.
The same weighty responsibility, but much more time to think.
Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you. 
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