By Elliott West
“In politics, there are weathercocks and signposts. Weathercocks spin in whatever direction the wind of public opinion may blow them. Signposts stand true, tall, and principled. Signposts are the only people worth remembering in politics”.
Tony Benn
Introduction
It has been ten years since we lost one of the most brilliant parliamentarians that British politics ever witnessed. If you want an example of a conviction MP, you need to look no further than Tony Benn. A Labour Party politician who spoke from the heart and never feared speaking out about an issue that he felt passionate about. With a lit pipe and a steaming mug of tea never far from his sight, Benn dominated British politics for 51 years. A devout believer in the purpose of parliament, the mother of all parliaments, Westminster, Tony never feared getting to his feet to speak as a Minister or voicing his opinions from the back benches. A brilliant orator who captivated his audience on the House of Commons floor or a rally platform. An avid reader who charted his political journey in his numerous diaries. A political powerhouse who served in the Wilson and Callaghan governments.
Born to Serve
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn was born in Westminster in 1925. The son of William and Margaret, Benn came from political stock. His father was a Liberal from 1906 and then a Labour MP from 1928. A father who received a hereditary peerage, becoming the 1st Viscount Stansgate. An MP, who crossed the floor in 1928, served as Secretary of State for India under Ramsay MacDonald until Labour’s landslide election victory in 1931. He also served as Secretary of State for Air in the coalition government during World War II.
Tony’s mother, Margaret was a theologian, feminist and the founder president of the Congregational Federation. A member of the Church Militant and an impassioned supporter of the ordination of women. A devout Christian whose life was guided by the teachings of the Bible. A guiding light in Tony’s life and who had a profound effect on Benny. A son who became a committed Christian himself.
Tony’s background allowed him to enjoy the trappings of a private education. Educated at Eaton House, Westminster School and New College Oxford, Benny read philosophy, politics and economics. A President of the Oxford Union in 1947. A student who a five-year-old went to Downing Street and met Ramsay MacDonald. A meeting that later described “A kindly old gentleman [who] leaned over me and offered me a chocolate biscuit. I’ve looked at Labour leaders in a funny way ever since.”. He would also met in his childhood years, David Lloyd George and shook hands with Mahatma Gandhi. A member of the Home Guard during the early part of World War II, Tony would go on to serve as an aircraftsman and then as a Pilot Officer in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia.
Years in Parliament
Tony Benn was first elected as an MP in a by-election in Bristol South East in 1950. A seat was vacated due to the ill health of Stafford Cripps. A seat that he won with the help of Anthony Crossland and so became the youngest MP of the time. Benn stood out in his early years, organising the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott. A campaign that rallied against the Bristol Omnibus Company which had a colour bar at the time, refusing to employ Black British and Black Asian bud drivers. Tony vowed to not go on a bus and ride a bicycle instead until the fight was won. A fight that Harold Wilson put his support behind. Barred from the House of Commons in 1960 to speak after the death of his father and inheriting his peerage, Tony turned his back on his title and renounced it. Yet he would have to wait until the 1963 Peerage Act before he could formally relinquish the title, the first person to do so under the new legislation. He returned to the Commons the same year after winning a by-election again in Bristol South after he ousted the Conservative MP Malcolm St Clair from the seat.
A minister as Postmaster Master General in the 1964 Wilson government, Tony oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower in London, the Post Bus service and Girobank. He also opposed pirate radio stations and their broadcasting in overseas waters. He would go on to be promoted to Minister of Technology in 1966. A position that saw him develop Concorde, the formation of International Computers Ltd. and the formation of British Leyland.
An opposer of Great Britain joining the EEC, Benn would have to wait until 1974 before he held office again. He held the post of Secretary of State for Industry, bringing in nationalised industry pay and the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974. He was also Secretary of State for Energy. A candidate to succeed Harold Wilson when he resigned in 1976, Benn withdrew in the second ballot and supported Michael Foot. A leadership contest that James Callaghan would go on to win. He would later stand for the deputy leadership in 1981 but lost to Dennis Healey. He would stay on as Energy Secretary. A post that he held until 1979, promoting nuclear power and attacking the Labour government for abandoning their Socialist principles. A major factor that he felt led to the Winter of Discontent.
Shift to the Left
By the end of the 1970s, Tony Benn’s politics veered firmly to the left. He seemed to have a youthful explosion, attacking anything that he felt was wrong. A supporter of devolution and Scottish independence, Tony would go on to be a thorn in the side of Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands Walk, Miner’s Strike and Community Charge debacle. and Tony Blair. on the invasion of Iraq. He was a highly vocal opponent of both the Gulf Wars and over time formed his politics of opposition that was branded Bennite.
Now an MP for Chesterfield since winning a by-election there in 1984, Benny strongly believed in representing his constituents and knew that his position remained at the mercy of the electorate. An impassioned supporter of the LGBT movement, nuclear disarmament and the opposition to the monarchy and the European Commission. Tony retired at the 2001 General Election, citing that he wanted to spend more time on politics. A frequent speaker at the Stop the War Coalition rallies, he would go to do regular television appearances, do a one-man stage show and was a passenger on the last flight of Concorde from New York to London in 2005. A true family man, Tony adored his family and was devastated when he lost his soulmate, his wife Caroline in 2000, an educationalist and writer.
The Benn Legacy
Tony Benn’s speeches are still played frequently on social media today. Agree or don’t agree with him, he was highly respected for his championing of causes and standing for social injustice. A man who would fight with his vast knowledge and vocabulary until the bitter end. A powerful voice that meant what it said and would jump through endless hoops to achieve his goals. He didn’t care if he was unpopular with the media because his true family was the British electorate. A rare breed of politician who has sadly almost disappeared today and who will always be lamented for his loss and the hole that was left in politics that came with his passing. Tony Benn died in 2014 at the age of 88. A political force whose spirit still burns bright in the Socialist movement.
