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Following the election of [[Jeremy Corbyn]] as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, Benn retained the role of Shadow Foreign Secretary in the [[Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn|Corbyn's shadow cabinet]]. In November 2015, Benn opposed the position of Corbyn, who rejected the proposal for Britain to launch airstrikes against the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] in Syria and any intervention. Instead, Benn supported the plans laid out by the Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], and said that he would not resign over his disagreement with Corbyn because he was "doing [his] job as the Shadow Foreign Secretary".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Casalicchio|first1=Emilio|title=Hilary Benn: I won't quit|url=https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/hilary-benn-i-wont-quit|accessdate=27 November 2015|work=Politics Home|date=27 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Mason|first1=Rowena|last2=Boffe|first2=Daniel|title=Hilary Benn tells Corbyn: I'm doing my job in supporting Syria airstrikes|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/27/hilary-benn-wont-resign-over-support-syria-airstrikes?CMP=twt_gu|accessdate=27 November 2015|work=The Guardian|date=27 November 2015}}</ref> Benn voted in favour of the [[Iraq War]] and the [[2011 military intervention in Libya]].<ref name = "TWFY H Benn">{{Cite web |title= Hilary Benn » Voting Record http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10669/hilary_benn/leeds_central/votes |website= theyworkforyou.com |accessdate= 2 December 2015 }}</ref>
Following the election of [[Jeremy Corbyn]] as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, Benn retained the role of Shadow Foreign Secretary in the [[Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn|Corbyn's shadow cabinet]]. In November 2015, Benn opposed the position of Corbyn, who rejected the proposal for Britain to launch airstrikes against the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] in Syria and any intervention. Instead, Benn supported the plans laid out by the Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], and said that he would not resign over his disagreement with Corbyn because he was "doing [his] job as the Shadow Foreign Secretary".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Casalicchio|first1=Emilio|title=Hilary Benn: I won't quit|url=https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/hilary-benn-i-wont-quit|accessdate=27 November 2015|work=Politics Home|date=27 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Mason|first1=Rowena|last2=Boffe|first2=Daniel|title=Hilary Benn tells Corbyn: I'm doing my job in supporting Syria airstrikes|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/27/hilary-benn-wont-resign-over-support-syria-airstrikes?CMP=twt_gu|accessdate=27 November 2015|work=The Guardian|date=27 November 2015}}</ref> Benn voted in favour of the [[Iraq War]] and the [[2011 military intervention in Libya]].<ref name = "TWFY H Benn">{{Cite web |title= Hilary Benn » Voting Record http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10669/hilary_benn/leeds_central/votes |website= theyworkforyou.com |accessdate= 2 December 2015 }}</ref>


Going against public opinion, and the values of his father, he voted for [[RAF]] airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria in December 2015, a motion which was passed, making the closing speech for the official opposition in the House of Commons. It was applauded by MPs on both sides of the House <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34990957 |title=Hilary Benn's Syria speech applauded by MPs}}</ref>—something which is rare in the Commons.<ref>{{cite news|title=MPs vote to extend action against IS to Syria|url=http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21679441-they-spent-11-hours-grappling-past-conflicts-and-present-realities-middle-east-mps|accessdate=3 December 2015|work=[[The Economist]]|date=2 December 2015}}</ref>
Going against public opinion, and the values of his Father, He voted for [[RAF]] airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria in December 2015, a motion which was passed, making the closing speech for the official opposition in the House of Commons. It was applauded by MPs on both sides of the House <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34990957 |title=Hilary Benn's Syria speech applauded by MPs}}</ref>—something which is rare in the Commons.<ref>{{cite news|title=MPs vote to extend action against IS to Syria|url=http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21679441-they-spent-11-hours-grappling-past-conflicts-and-present-realities-middle-east-mps|accessdate=3 December 2015|work=[[The Economist]]|date=2 December 2015}}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==

Revision as of 13:47, 3 December 2015

The Right Honourable
Hilary Benn
MP
Shadow Foreign Secretary
Assumed office
11 May 2015
LeaderHarriet Harman (Acting)
Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded byDouglas Alexander
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office
7 October 2011 – 11 May 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byCaroline Flint
Succeeded byEmma Reynolds
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In office
8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byRosie Winterton
Succeeded byAngela Eagle
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office
11 May 2010 – 8 October 2010
LeaderHarriet Harman (Acting)
Ed Miliband
Preceded byNick Herbert
Succeeded byMary Creagh
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office
28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byDavid Miliband
Succeeded byCaroline Spelman
Secretary of State for International Development
In office
6 October 2003 – 28 June 2007
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byThe Baroness Amos
Succeeded byDouglas Alexander
Member of Parliament
for Leeds Central
Assumed office
10 June 1999
Preceded byDerek Fatchett
Majority16,967 (37.7%)
Personal details
Born
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn

(1953-11-26) 26 November 1953 (age 70)
Hammersmith, London, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Rosalind Caroline Retey (1973–1979, her death)
Sally Christina Clark (1982–present)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
WebsiteOfficial website
Parliamentary website

Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central since a 1999 by-election, and has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since May 2015.

Born in Hammersmith, the son of Tony and Caroline Benn, he studied Russian and East European Studies at the University of Sussex. He then went on to work for two trade unions, ASTMS and MSF. Later joining the Labour Party, Benn was a councillor on Ealing Borough Council where he served for several years, as well as a twice-unsuccessful parliamentary candidate. Following the 1997 general election, Benn worked as a special advisor to David Blunkett before winning a by-election in Leeds Central in 1999.

Benn served in the Cabinet as the Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2007 to 2010. In opposition he has served briefly as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2010, as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 2010 to 2011, and as the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2011 to 2015.

Early life and education

Born in Hammersmith, London, the second son of former Labour Cabinet Minister Tony Benn and educationalist Caroline Benn. Benn is a fourth generation MP—his father, his grandfather Lord Stansgate, and his great grandfathers Sir John Benn and Daniel Holmes were all Members of Parliament, mostly with factions of the Liberal Party.[2] He attended Norland Place School, Westminster Under School, Holland Park School and University of Sussex where he graduated in Russian and East European Studies. Benn has an older brother, Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate, a younger sister Melissa and younger brother, Joshua.[3]

Political career

Trade union official

On leaving university, Benn became a research officer with the ASTMS and rose to become Head of Policy for Manufacturing Science and Finance.[4] In 1980 he was seconded to the Labour Party to act as a joint secretary to the finance panel of the Labour Party Commission of Inquiry. In 1979 he was elected to Ealing Borough Council where he served as deputy leader from 1986 to 1990. He was the Labour parliamentary candidate for Ealing North in both the 1983 general election and 1987 general election. On both occasions he was defeated by the Conservative candidate Harry Greenway.

When Labour returned to government after the 1997 general election, Benn was appointed as a special adviser to David Blunkett, then the Secretary of State for Education and Employment.

Early parliamentary career

In 1999 he was quickly selected as the Labour candidate in the Leeds Central by-election, 1999 following the death of Derek Fatchett. While Benn strongly resembles his father, Tony Benn, in his speaking style and delivery, he was a New Labour loyalist. It is in this vein that he described himself at the time of the by-election campaign as "a Benn, but not a Bennite".[5] Benn won the by-election on 10 June 1999 by just over 2,000 votes, following an unusually small turnout. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 23 June 1999. He was re-elected as MP for Leeds Central in the 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections. He shares premises for his constituency office with Richard Corbett, a Labour Member of the European Parliament.

From 2001 to 2010, under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Benn held a number of ministerial and cabinet-level positions. From 2001 to 2002, he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development. From 2002 to 2003, he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons & Probation. In 2003 he was a Minister of State at the Department for International Development. From 2003 to 2007 he was the Secretary of State for International Development.

In 2007 Benn was the bookmakers' favourite for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party.[6] The early polls in the Deputy Leadership contest showed him to be the grassroots' favourite—in a YouGov poll of party members, Benn was top on 27%, followed by Education Secretary Alan Johnson on 18%, Environment Secretary David Miliband on 17%, Justice Minister Harriet Harman on 10%, and Labour Party Chair Hazel Blears on 7%.[7] The contest was formally launched on 14 May 2007 after the resignation of incumbent Deputy leader John Prescott, Benn had some initial difficulties securing the necessary 45 nominations required to get on the ballot paper but he acquired the support needed to join five other candidates—Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Alan Johnson, Peter Hain and backbencher Jon Cruddas.[8][9] Supporting nominations from constituency Labour Parties showed Hilary Benn obtaining 25%, Jon Cruddas 22%, Harriet Harman 19%, Alan Johnson 14%, Hazel Blears 12% and Peter Hain 8% of the constituency parties that voted. The Labour leadership contest closed on Sunday 24 June 2007 with Harriet Harman winning the contest. Benn was eliminated in the 3rd round of voting having reached a total of 22.33% of the votes. Harriet Harman was elected in the 5th round with 50.43% of the vote.

In 2007, Benn was appointed as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and remained in this role until the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition following the 2010 general election. As Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, it was his responsibility to respond to the threat to British cattle from Mycobacterium bovis, colloquially referred to as bovine tuberculosis (TB). The recommended option from the Chief Scientific Advisor until 2007, Sir David King, was a badger cull.[10] In April 2010, a badger cull was announced in Wales, after the high court in Cardiff rejected a legal challenge from The Badger Trust.[citation needed]

During the parliamentary expenses scandal, Benn was picked out by several national newspapers as one of only three senior members of the Labour Party to have presented expenses beyond reproach. "When all Westminster MPs' total expenditures are ranked, Benn's bill is the 15th least expensive for the taxpayer," said The Guardian.[11]

Benn briefly served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2010 during Harriet Harman's interim leadership of the Labour Party. In the Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband, announced on 8 October 2010, he was appointed as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. When Miliband reshuffled his team on 7 October 2011, he was named Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. After 2015 UK general election, in the Second Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman, Benn was named Shadow Foreign Secretary, as previous incumbent Douglas Alexander had not been re-elected. On 17 June Benn stood in for Harriet Harman at Prime Minister's Questions, as David Cameron was away in Europe, and Benn was Harman's unofficial deputy.[12]

Shadow Foreign Secretary

Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, Benn retained the role of Shadow Foreign Secretary in the Corbyn's shadow cabinet. In November 2015, Benn opposed the position of Corbyn, who rejected the proposal for Britain to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria and any intervention. Instead, Benn supported the plans laid out by the Prime Minister David Cameron, and said that he would not resign over his disagreement with Corbyn because he was "doing [his] job as the Shadow Foreign Secretary".[13][14] Benn voted in favour of the Iraq War and the 2011 military intervention in Libya.[15]

Going against public opinion, and the values of his Father, He voted for RAF airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria in December 2015, a motion which was passed, making the closing speech for the official opposition in the House of Commons. It was applauded by MPs on both sides of the House [16]—something which is rare in the Commons.[17]

Personal life

In 1973, whilst at university, he married fellow student Rosalind Retey, who died of cancer at age 26 in 1979;[18] Benn subsequently married Sally Christina Clark in 1982.[19] He has four children.[citation needed]

Like his father, who died in March 2014, he is a teetotaller and a vegetarian.[20]

Awards

Benn was shortlisted for the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in 2015 for his work on increasing aid at DFID, and remains in the directory of the Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who publication.[21]

References

  1. ^ Who's Who. A & C Black. 2015.
  2. ^ Harry Cole. "Keeping it in the Family". Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 23 February 2014 suggested (help)
  3. ^ Benn, Anthony (1995). Winstone, Ruth (ed.). The Benn Diaries. Hutchinson. p. 25. ISBN 0-09-1792231.
  4. ^ "Men Who Made Labour". google.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Profile: Hilary Benn". BBC News. BBC. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 8 August 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2008. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 29 December 2008 suggested (help)
  6. ^ "Blears 8/1 For Deputy Labour Leader". Casino Times. 17 February 2007. Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2008. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 30 June 2009 suggested (help)
  7. ^ Wells, Anthony (8 September 2006). "YouGov polls on the Labour leadership". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2008. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 23 July 2008 suggested (help)
  8. ^ "Benn short of backers". BBC News. 16 May 2007. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  9. ^ "Deputy hopefuls make their case". BBC News. 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 26 August 2007 suggested (help)
  10. ^ Ghosh, Pallab. "Science chief urges badger cull". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  11. ^ Allegra Stratton (8 May 2009). "Bargain Benn, modest Miliband (Ed, not David)". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  12. ^ Chakelian, Anoosh (17 June 2015). "Why is Hilary Benn doing PMQs?". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  13. ^ Casalicchio, Emilio (27 November 2015). "Hilary Benn: I won't quit". Politics Home. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  14. ^ Mason, Rowena; Boffe, Daniel (27 November 2015). "Hilary Benn tells Corbyn: I'm doing my job in supporting Syria airstrikes". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Hilary Benn » Voting Record http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10669/hilary_benn/leeds_central/votes". theyworkforyou.com. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  16. ^ "Hilary Benn's Syria speech applauded by MPs".
  17. ^ "MPs vote to extend action against IS to Syria". The Economist. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  18. ^ Benn, Anthony (1995). Winstone, Ruth (ed.). The Benn Diaries. Hutchinson. p. 476. ISBN 0-09-1792231.
  19. ^ Benn, Anthony (1995). Winstone, Ruth (ed.). The Benn Diaries. Hutchinson. p. 538. ISBN 0-09-1792231.
  20. ^ Ashley, Jackie (9 November 2006). "'I'm not a natural rebel'". The Guardian. London: Guardian News & Media. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  21. ^ "Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who". Grassroot Diplomat. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Leeds Central
1999–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State for International Development
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
2007–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
2010–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
2011–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Foreign Secretary
2015–present 		Incumbent

Template:UK Shadow Cabinet

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