Thomas Yates Benyon, OBE (born 13 August 1942, Newmarket,

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

) is a British activist and former

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 ...

politician.

Early life

Benyon was educated at

Wellington School, Somerset Wellington School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 3–18 located in Wellington, Somerset, England. Wellington School was founded in 1837. Wellington School is a r ...

from 1956 to 1960.

Parliamentary career

Benyon twice stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Labour-held seats. In

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) *Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...

he contested

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

against the former (and future)

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, Harold Wilson. In the following election in October that year, he contested

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of London Borough of Haringey, Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater Lond ...

in London but was again beaten, this time by the Labour incumbent

Joyce Butler Joyce Shore Butler (née Wells; 13 December 1910 – 2 January 1992) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. She was the long serving MP for Wood Green and was the first woman to chair an ad hoc committee. Early life Butler was educa ...

. Following the murder of Airey Neave just before the 1979 general election, Benyon became the new candidate to be

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for the Conservative stronghold of Abingdon, which he won with ease. However, in 1983, the seat was abolished in boundary changes, and Benyon did not stand for the Oxford West & Abingdon or

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...

seats that replaced it. He has not stood for Parliament since.

Other work

He was on the governing body of Abingdon School from 1979 to 1983. In 2002, Tom and Olivia Jane Benyon, with James Pringle, Sue Gibbs, Clare Hayns, James Maberly and the Rev David Streater, founded a charity called ZANE. It was spearheaded by Tom Benyon after he met Cathy Olds whose husband Martin was hacked to death in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

the previous year, in 2001, when their farm was occupied by

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

loyalists. In 2005 he was elected for a five-year term, as a lay representative of the

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...

, to the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church of ...

of the Church of England. He remains an active member of the Church.

Honours

Benyon was awarded the OBE in recognition of his ''"services to vulnerable people in Zimbabwe"''.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1979 & 1983 *

External links

* 1942 births Living people People from Newmarket, Suffolk Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 British activists British Anglicans British humanitarians Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Wellington School, Somerset Governors of Abingdon School {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub