Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate (born 21 August 1951), is a British hereditary peer and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

Early life

His father,

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

, and his younger brother,

Hilary Benn Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central since a by-election in 1999. He served in the Cabinet from 2003 to 2010, under both Tony Bl ...

, have both been senior

politicians. His mother was

Caroline Benn Caroline Middleton DeCamp Benn (13 October 1926 – 22 November 2000), formerly Viscountess Stansgate, was an educationalist and writer, and wife of the British Labour politician Tony Benn (formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate). Biography Benn ...

an educationalist and writer, and his sister is

Melissa Benn Melissa Ann Benn (born 1957) is a British journalist and writer. She is the daughter of Tony Benn and Caroline Benn. Biography Benn was born in Hammersmith, London. She has three brothers, including Hilary Benn and Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount S ...

, a feminist writer.

Education

He is a graduate of

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

. He was an elected Member of the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

from 1986 to 1990. He attended Holland Park Comprehensive School from 1962 to 1968.

Career

In 2011, he was appointed director of parliamentary affairs for the

Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

after spending two decades in a similar role for the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...

. He is also a Vice-President of the

Parliamentary and Scientific Committee The UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (P&SC) is a United Kingdom parliamentary organization established in 1939. It is an all-party parliamentary group. Overview The P&SC provides a forum for scientific and technological issues in the UK. ...

. Benn succeeded to the title of

Viscount Stansgate Viscount Stansgate, of Stansgate in the County of Essex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for the Labour politician, former Secretary of State for India and future Secretary of State for Air, William Wedg ...

on the death of his father in March 2014. His active acceptance of the title was recorded on 10 November 2014 with a note in the minutes of Proceedings from the House of Lords, stating: :"The Lord Chancellor reported that Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn had established his claim to the Viscountcy of Stansgate in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Clerk of the Parliaments was accordingly directed to enter Viscount Stansgate on the register of hereditary peers maintained under Standing Order 10(5)." He stood for election as a Labour hereditary peer in the

and was elected unopposed on 10 July 2021, replacing Lord Rea who died in 2020; he took the oath on 6 September that year. He made his maiden speech on Thursday 14 October 2021 on the debate of Regional Strategy debate, with his brother Hilary Benn watching on.

Personal life

Lord Stansgate has a daughter, Emily, born in 1989, and a son, Daniel John Wedgwood Benn, born in 1991 with his wife Nita Clarke. Emily, an

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

er by occupation, pursued a political career, and sat on the

Croydon London Borough Council Croydon London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 c ...

as a Labour member until she resigned in 2016 on moving to New York.

References

Sources

Father's obituary
1951 births Living people Alumni of Keele University Benn family British people of American descent English activists English landowners People from Essex Scientists from London Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act {{UK-viscount-stub