Shouldn't it be *"Despite his being away for 15 years" instead?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Thaksin is one of the most influential, but divisive, figures in modern Thai history.

Despite being away for 15 years, parties loyal to him won every election since 2001 until this year.

Shouldn’t it be *“Despite his being away for 15 years” instead? Thanks.

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Yes.
The subject in the second part being ‘parties loyal to him’, it should be ‘Despite his being away’.
However, if it had been ‘he won every election’, then the sentence would have been correct!

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Thanks, Anglophile.

Could you elaborate on the answer? Thanks.

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I agree with Anglophile, if you don’t say “despite his being away”, your sentence would mean that the parties loyal to him were away for 15 years.

  • Despite being away for 15 years, he won every election since 2001 until this year.
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Do you still want me to elaborate it, @Kohyoongliat?
I think @Masme’s clarification holds good.

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Thanks, Anglophile.

It’s clear now.

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