Nicholas Bennett

Nicholas Jerome Bennett (born 7 May 1949 in Hampstead, London) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 1992 representing the constituency of Pembrokeshire, and was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Welsh Office from 1990 to 1992.

Career

Bennett was a school teacher from 1976–1985, and also worked for a period in educational publishing.

Bennett was a Conservative Councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham from 1974 to 1982, serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the Borough from 1979 to 1981. He was also a member of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) from 1978 to 1981, where he served on the Development and Schools Committees.

Bennett was elected to Parliament as the MP for Pembrokeshire at the 1987 general election. He served as member of the Select Committee on Welsh Affairs from 1987 to 1990, and the Select Committee on Procedure from 1988 to 1990, and was Vice-Chairman (Wales) of the Conservative Backbench Party Organisation Committee in 1990. He was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Roger Freeman, in 1990, before becoming a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Welsh Office from 1990 to 1992.

At the 1992 general election, Bennett was defeated by the Labour Party candidate Nick Ainger. Bennett stood as a candidate in the constituency of Reading West at the 1997 general election, but was defeated by Labour's Martin Salter.

Bennett served as a member of the Further Education Funding Council for England (FEFCE) from 1992 to 1997. He was an advisor on public affairs to Price Waterhouse from 1993 to 1998, before becoming Chief Executive of the Association of Consulting Engineers from 1998 to 2002. In 2003, he formed his own company, Kent Refurbishment Ltd, which undertakes property development and education and public affairs consultancy.

In 2006 and 2010, Bennett was elected as a Councillor for the West Wickham ward in the London Borough of Bromley. In May 2012 he was elected Chairman of the Council's Education Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee.

Bennett is a local magistrate in Battersea.

In April 2012, Bennett became one of the few foreigners to travel extensively in North Korea.

Education

Bennett was educated at Sedgehill School, before taking his O-Levels and A-Levels at further education colleges. He completed a BA in Philosophy at the Polytechnic of North London, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at the Institute of Education, University of London, and an MA in Educational Management at the University of Sussex.^[1]

Personal life

Bennett's wife Ruth is a Councillor for the Bromley Common and Keston ward.

Bennett is a staunch Roman Catholic.

References

• The Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Ltd, 1992
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages