17 Facts About Siobhan Benita

Siobhan Benita is a British former civil servant.

Siobhan Benita was an independent candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election.

Siobhan Benita was then the Liberal Democrat candidate in the London mayoral election originally planned for 2020, but after the election was delayed to 2021, she withdrew as the candidate.

Siobhan Benita joined the Department for Transport in 1996, having entered the Civil Service on the Fast Stream graduate programme.

Siobhan Benita worked on the Civil Service Awards and "Tabelle", a network for women who work in, or with, the public sector.

Siobhan Benita resigned from the department in October 2011, in part to protest against NHS reforms.

Siobhan Benita stepped down from that role in August 2016 to become the chief strategy officer of the unit set up by the university in 2016 to develop its presence and activity in London.

Siobhan Benita stood as an independent candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election.

Siobhan Benita indicated at the time that she intended to stay in politics and hoped to run again in the 2016 London mayoral elections, although she eventually decided not to.

In November 2019, Siobhan Benita said that money from unused Oyster cards should be used to help fight homelessness.

Siobhan Benita launched her campaign for the 2020 London mayoral election on 13 February 2020.

Siobhan Benita said she wanted to legalise cannabis in London in a bid to tackle rising levels of knife crime.

Siobhan Benita stated she would like to see pilots for legal regulated cannabis across London in order to remove power and money from gangs, free up police time to tackle serious crimes, and raise millions of pounds in tax, which could be invested in youth services and support those addicted to harder drugs.

Siobhan Benita has pledged to cut violent crime, cut air pollution, declared an aim to reach zero-carbon by 2030, and reopen closed police stations.

On 27 July 2020, Siobhan Benita announced her withdrawal from the Lib Dem mayoral candidacy, saying she was unable to commit to another year of campaigning following the election's postponement to 2021 given the unpaid nature of the role.

Siobhan Benita subsequently announced her support for the Rejoin EU candidate, Richard Hewison.

Siobhan Benita married Vincent Siobhan Benita in 1997, and has two daughters.