Inigo Geoffrey Bing (born 1 April 1944) is a retired judge. Bing is the son of

Geoffrey Henry Cecil Bing Geoffrey Henry Cecil Bing Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG Queen's Counsel, QC (24 July 1909 – 24 April 1977) was a British barrister and politician who served as the Labour Party (UK), Labour British House of Commons, M ...

, and Christian Frances Blois, daughter of

Sir Ralph Barrett Macnaghten Blois, 9th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

. Inigo Bing's early education was at

St Olave's Grammar School St. Olave's Grammar School (formally St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Church of England Grammar School) ( or ) is a selective secondary school for boys in Orpington, Greater London, England. Founded by royal charter in 1571, the school occupied sev ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. He graduated from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

with an LLB degree in law in 1966. He was called to the Bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1967. Between 2012 and 2017 he studied history and philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London, gaining a BA (1st class honours) and an MA (distinction). Bing was a Labour Party member of

Lambeth London Borough Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall ...

between 1971 and 1978. He stood for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in the 1983 General Election and the 1987 General Election for Braintree, and came second each time to Tony Newton of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Inigo Bing was a District Judge (formerly Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate) from 1989 to 2000. He was a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

from 1996 to 2000. Bing was a Circuit Judge on the South Eastern Circuit from 2000 to 2012, sitting at

Snaresbrook Snaresbrook is a district of East London in the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located 8 miles east of Charing Cross. The name derives from a corruption of Sayers brook, a tributary of the River Roding that flows through Wanstead to the Ea ...

Crown Court. Bing was elected a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of the Inner Temple in 2012. He is the author of ''Criminal Procedure and Sentencing in the Magistrates' Court'' (1990). In 2020 he published 'Populism on Trial' (Biteback Publishing) a polemical book about the danger of populism to the rule of law in the United Kingdom. In 2022 his second book, 'The Ten Legal Cases that Made Modern Britain' was published also by Biteback. Bing has also, on a previous occasion, expressed concern over what he perceived to be an urge to over-legislate in the UK. He explained to his audience, at the

Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, that:

Personal life

In 1980, he married Shirley-Anne Holmes (''née'' Benka). She died in 2003 and he married Judith Warwick in 2004. The marriage was dissolved and in 2019 he married

Mary Honeyball Mary Hilda Rosamund Honeyball (born 12 November 1952 in Weymouth, Dorset) is a former British Labour Party politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London from 2000 to 2019. Seventh on Labour's 1999 list, she had not b ...

, a former Labour

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

References

1944 births Living people Alumni of the University of Birmingham 20th-century English judges Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales) 21st-century English judges {{England-law-bio-stub