Tony Benn 1925-2014

Tony Benn, born Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn, died on March 14th 2014 at the age of 88. A campaigner, a diarist and a superb public speaker, he entered Parliament in 1950 as the member for Bristol South East and spent many decades representing his constituency, as a minister within the Cabinet under Harold Wilson, and later challenging for the Labour Party leadership. As the Labour Party moved closer to the political centre in the late 1990s, his influence within Labour waned. Paradoxically, having stepped down in 2001 "to spend more time with politics" as he put it, he became increasingly well-regarded and widely-heard.  He became a catalyst and spokesperson for those marginalised by conventional politics, opposing the Iraq War and standing up for human rights. He leaves four children, including a son Hilary, the Labour MP for Leeds Central. There are many images of Tony Benn on Scran; see http://www.scran.ac.uk/s/tony+benn