Vivian Bingham

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(11 April 1932 – 3 March 2012), known as Viv Bingham, was a British political activist.

Biography

Bingham grew up in

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, England, before studying at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. He worked as a personnel director, then as a company managing director and management consultant.''The Times Guide to the House of Commons, June 1983'', p. 93 He joined the Co-operative Wholesale Society (now the Co-operative Group) in 1980 and took on a passionate long-term commitment to co-operation and to industrial democracy generally which he badgered the Liberal Party and, later, the Liberal Democrats to get into legislation. Long a Liberal Party activist, Bingham stood in Heywood and Royton in the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

and October 1974 general elections, then in

Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, the area was kno ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and West Derbyshire in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, as well as

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Co ...

at the

1979 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1979. Africa * Algeria: presidential election * Benin: parliamentary election * Botswana: general election * Gabon: presidential election * Ghana: presidential election * Kenya: general election * Mal ...

to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, but was never elected. Bingham was a supporter of

unilateral nuclear disarmament __NOTOC__ Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find disagreeable. As a word, ''un ...

, and a leading figure in Liberal

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

. From 1981 to 1982, he served as President of the Liberal Party. He was subsequently awarded the

in 1994. At the 2005 general election he stood for the Liberal Democrats in Stalybridge and Hyde.

Personal

Bingham's second marriage, to Cecilia Gowan, produced two daughters, Katy and Jessica. Bingham suffered a mild heart attack in September 2011 but apparently recovered. He suffered a second heart attack shortly after cancer surgery and died on 3 March 2012, aged 79.

References

External links

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Viv 1932 births 2012 deaths People from Alnwick Alumni of New College, Oxford Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament activists Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates