Hilary Benn
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2023. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central since the 1999 by-election. Benn previously served as Environment Secretary and Development Secretary and as Chairman of the Brexit Select Committee.
The Right Honourable Hilary Benn MP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Official portrait, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 4 September 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Peter Kyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chair of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 19 October 2016 – 16 January 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Office abolished | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Miliband | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Caroline Spelman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for International Development | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 October 2003 – 28 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Baroness Amos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Douglas Alexander | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament for Leeds Central | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 10 June 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Derek Fatchett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 19,270 (39.1%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Hilary James Wedgwood Benn 26 November 1953 Hammersmith, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alma mater | University of Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Website | hilarybennmp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born in Hammersmith, he is the second son of veteran Labour MP Tony Benn and educationalist Caroline Benn. He studied Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Sussex and went on to work as a policy researcher for two trade unions, ASTMS and MSF. Benn was elected as a councillor on Ealing Borough Council in 1979 and was Deputy Leader of the Council from 1986 to 1990. He was also the unsuccessful Labour parliamentary candidate for the Ealing North constituency at both the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Following the 1997 general election, Benn was appointed as a special adviser to David Blunkett before winning a by-election in Leeds Central in 1999.
Benn served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development from 2001 to 2002 and for Prisons and Probations from 2002 to 2003. He returned to DFID as Minister of State in May 2003. In October 2003, he was appointed to Tony Blair's Cabinet as the Secretary of State for International Development. In 2007, Benn was a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, which he lost to Harriet Harman, finishing in fourth place. Benn later served under Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2007 to 2010.
Following Labour's defeat at the 2010 general election, Benn served in Ed Miliband's Shadow cabinet as Shadow Environment Secretary in 2010 and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 2010 to 2011. He then served as Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2011 to 2015. Following the 2015 general election, Benn was appointed as Shadow Foreign Secretary, retaining this role after Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour Leader. After criticising Corbyn's leadership and phoning other Labour MPs to seek to remove Corbyn as leader, he was dismissed from this position by Corbyn on 26 June 2016, precipitating a number of shadow cabinet resignations.