Emily Benn
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Emily Sophia Wedgwood Benn (born 4 October 1989[citation needed]) is the eldest child and only daughter of Stephen Benn and Nita Clarke (née Bowes). Four generations of her family have served as Members of Parliament (MP) — her uncle Hilary Benn, grandfather Tony Benn, great-grandfather William Wedgwood Benn, and great-great-grandfathers John Williams Benn and Daniel Holmes[citation needed].
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[edit] Early life
Benn was born during the Labour party conference in 1989.[1] She lives in South Norwood, and attended Wallington High School for Girls from 2001 to 2006, where she achieved 11 A* grades in her GCSEs in summer 2006.[citation needed] She is studying for A-levels in Latin, History and Music at St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, which she will sit in June 2008.[2][3] She says she has not at all enjoyed her time at St Olaves, and feels she has not settled in after moving for 6th form.
[edit] Campaigning
She claims that her first political experience to be campaigning for her grandfather in his Chesterfield constituency in the 1992 general election, aged 2, and she joined the Labour Party aged 14.[2] On 12 September 2007, three weeks before her 18th birthday, she was selected from a shortlist of two to contest East Worthing and Shoreham in the next general election.[4][2] She is the youngest ever Labour party prospective Parliamentary candidate.[2] The sitting MP, Conservative Tim Loughton, had a majority of 8,183 in the 2005 UK general election.[1]
She supported the Iraq war,[3] and claims, like her uncle Hilary, to be a "Benn, not a Bennite".[5]
[edit] Stand for Parliament
With the next United Kingdom general election due by 3 June 2010, before her 21st birthday, she is eligible to stand because the Electoral Administration Act 2006 lowered the age from 21 to 18. Thus, if elected, she would become the youngest ever MP since the Reform Act 1832. The current record holder is Esmond Harmsworth, elected on 15 November 1919 from Isle of Thanet, aged 21 years 170 days. The youngest female MP was Bernadette Devlin, elected on 17 April 1969 from Mid Ulster, aged 21 years 359 days.
Emily has recently been accepted at New College, Oxford to study History and Politics.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Teenager to take on Tory Tim at election, Littlehampton Gazette, 25 September 2007
- ^ a b c d Benn's granddaughter runs for MP, BBC News, 25 September 2007.
- ^ a b Benn's granddaughter to stand at the next election, The Independent, 25 September 2007
- ^ First Statement from Emily Benn, East Worthing and Shoreham Labour Party
- ^ Young heir to Benn dynasty, The Times, 25 September 2007
