Hilary James Wedgwood Benn was born on 26 November 1953 and is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since a by-election in 1999.
48 Facts About Hilary Benn
2.
Hilary Benn served in the Cabinet from 2003 to 2010, under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
3.
Hilary Benn served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2015 to 2016 and as Chairman of the Brexit Select Committee from 2016 to 2021.
4.
Hilary Benn studied Russian and East European Studies at the University of Sussex and went on to work as a policy researcher for two trade unions, ASTMS and MSF.
5.
Hilary Benn was elected as a councillor on Ealing Borough Council in 1979 and was Deputy Leader of the Council from 1986 to 1990.
6.
Hilary Benn was the unsuccessful Labour parliamentary candidate for the Ealing North constituency at both the 1983 and 1987 general elections.
7.
Hilary 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.
8.
Hilary Benn returned to DFID as Minister of State in May 2003.
9.
In 2007, Hilary Benn was a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, which he lost to Harriet Harman, finishing in fourth place.
10.
Hilary Benn later served under Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2007 to 2010.
11.
Hilary Benn then served as Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2011 to 2015.
12.
Hilary Benn was later elected Chairman of the Brexit Select Committee.
13.
Hilary Benn sought to extend Article 50 to delay Brexit beyond the 31 October 2019 deadline through passing the Benn Act.
14.
Hilary Benn wished to have a second referendum in which he would have voted to remain; however, the Benn Act was nullified once Boris Johnson won a Conservative majority in the 2019 general election and the UK left the European Union.
15.
Hilary Benn attended Norland Place School, Westminster Under School, Holland Park School, and the University of Sussex where he graduated in Russian and East European Studies.
16.
Hilary Benn has an older brother, Stephen, a younger sister Melissa and younger brother, Joshua.
17.
Hilary Benn was the Labour Party candidate for Ealing North at the 1983 and 1987 general elections.
18.
Hilary Benn reportedly applied to become head of Labour Party research under the leadership of John Smith, but was unsuccessful.
19.
In 1999, Hilary Benn was selected as the Labour candidate for a by-election in Leeds Central following the untimely death of Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett at the age of 53 years old.
20.
Hilary Benn made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on Wednesday 23 June 1999.
21.
Hilary Benn was re-elected as MP for Leeds Central at the 2001,2005,2010,2015,2017, and 2019 general elections.
22.
Hilary Benn acted as the Department's Commons spokesperson, as then-Secretary of State for International Development, Baroness Amos, was a member of the House of Lords.
23.
In 2003, Hilary Benn was promoted to the cabinet from his position as Minister of State to become Secretary of State for International Development, after Baroness Amos was appointed as Leader of the House of Lords.
24.
In February 2004, Hilary Benn said that restoring security in Iraq would be "absolutely fundamental" to a reconstruction effort.
25.
In July 2004, Hilary Benn set out five stages to end the War in Darfur that had begun in February 2003.
26.
Hilary Benn led the UK negotiating team at the 2006 Darfur peace negotiations.
27.
Hilary Benn has been credited with helping to found the Central Emergency Response Fund.
28.
Hilary Benn played an important role in increasing the UK's foreign aid budget and securing debt relief for the poorest countries at the 31st G8 summit.
29.
In late October 2006, Hilary Benn announced that he would be standing in the 2007 Labour Party Deputy Leadership election.
30.
In 2007, Hilary Benn was the bookmakers' favourite for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party.
31.
In 2007, Hilary Benn was appointed as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, following the election of Gordon Brown as Party Leader, and the promotion of David Miliband to Foreign Secretary.
32.
The Guardian stated: "When all Westminster MPs' total expenditures are ranked, Hilary Benn's bill is the fifteenth least expensive for the taxpayer".
33.
Hilary Benn served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2010 during Harriet Harman's interim leadership of the Labour Party.
34.
Hilary Benn supported Caroline Flint in the deputy leadership election, and Andy Burnham in the leadership election.
35.
However, Hilary Benn subsequently supported plans laid out by the Prime Minister, and said he would not resign over his disagreement with Corbyn because he was "doing [his] job as the Shadow Foreign Secretary".
36.
Hilary Benn had voted in favour of the Iraq War in 2003 and the 2011 military intervention in Libya, but voted against military intervention against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013.
37.
On 2 December 2015, Hilary Benn made the closing speech for the official opposition in the House of Commons debate on airstrikes against ISIL in Syria.
38.
Hilary Benn has asked shadow cabinet colleagues to join him in resigning if the Labour leader ignores that request.
39.
In September 2016, Hilary Benn announced his intention to stand for chairman of the new Exiting the European Union Select Committee, a House of Commons select committee.
40.
Hilary Benn stated that his intention was to "get the best deal for the British people".
41.
Hilary Benn's bid was supported by former Labour leader Ed Miliband, as well as other senior Labour Party figures including Angela Eagle, Dan Jarvis, and Andy Burnham.
42.
Hilary Benn sponsored the European Union Act 2019, consequently known as the Benn Act, which received Royal assent on 9 September 2019, obliging the Prime Minister to seek a third extension had no agreement been reached at the subsequent European Council meeting in October 2019.
43.
Hilary Benn supported both the 2011 military intervention in Libya and the Iraq War, and military intervention against Syria.
44.
Hilary Benn supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum and supported the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum.
45.
In 1973, whilst at university, Hilary Benn married fellow student Rosalind Caroline Retey.
46.
Hilary Benn subsequently married Sally Christina Clark in 1982, and the couple have four children.
47.
Hilary Benn was shortlisted for the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in 2015 for his work on increasing aid at DfID, and remains in the directory of the Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who publication.
48.
Hilary Benn has won the Channel 4 Political Awards Politicians' Politician 2006, Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year 2016 and the Political Studies Association Parliamentarian of the Year 2019.