| Emily Benn | |
|---|---|
| Emily Benn, in Mumbai in 2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 October 1989 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Occupation | Student |
Emily Sophia Wedgwood Benn (born 4 October 1989) 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.[1][2] She was an unsuccessful Parliamentary candidate in the United Kingdom general election, 2010.
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Benn was born during the Labour Party Conference in 1989.[3] Benn is a quarter Indian on her mother's side.[4] 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. She studied music, history and Latin for A level (gaining three 'A's) at St Olave's Grammar School.[5][6] She studied history and politics at New College, Oxford.
She claims that her first political experience were campaigning for her grandfather in his Chesterfield constituency in the 1992 general election at age two, and she joined the Labour Party aged 14.[5]
She supported the Iraq war[6] and claims, like her uncle Hilary, to be a "Benn, not a Bennite".[7]
On 12 September 2007, three weeks before her 18th birthday, Benn was selected by the local Labour Party to contest East Worthing and Shoreham in the 2010 general election.[5][8] Benn was the youngest Labour Parliamentary Candidate at the 2010 General Election.
The sitting MP, Conservative Tim Loughton, was defending a majority vote of 8,183 from the 2005 general election in what is considered a safe Tory seat.[3] In the 2010 election, Emily Benn came third, 4,276 votes behind the second-placed Liberal Democrats, while Loughton increased his majority to 11,105.[9]