Thomas Yates Benyon,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 13 August 1942, Newmarket,

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral di ...

) is a British activist and former Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Benyon was educated at

Wellington School, Somerset Wellington School is a co-educational fee-charging boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 3–18 located in Wellington, Somerset, England. Wellington School was founded in 1837. Wellington School is a ...

from 1956 to 1960.

Parliamentary career

Benyon twice stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Labour-held seats. In February 1974 he contested

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

against the former (and future)

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

. In the following election in October that year, he contested

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

in London but was again beaten, this time by the Labour incumbent

Joyce Butler Joyce Shore Butler (née Wells; 13 December 1910 – 2 January 1992) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. She was the long serving MP for Wood Green and was the first woman to chair an ad hoc committee. Early life Butler was educa ...

. Following the murder of

Airey Neave Lieutenant Colonel Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, () (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During the Second World War he was the first ...

just before the 1979 general election, Benyon became the new candidate to be Member of Parliament (MP) for the Conservative stronghold of Abingdon, which he won with ease. However, in 1983, the seat was abolished in boundary changes, and Benyon did not stand for the

Oxford West and Abingdon Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat. Constituency profile The constituency includes the town of Abingdon, and the central, wester ...

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire, it has been a ...

seats that replaced it. He has not stood for Parliament since.

Other work

He was on the governing body of

Abingdon School Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, twentieth oldest Independent School (UK), independent British school. In May 202 ...

from 1979 to 1983. In 2002, Tom and Olivia Jane Benyon, with James Pringle, Sue Gibbs, Clare Hayns, James Maberly and the Rev David Streater, founded a charity called ZANE. It was spearheaded by Tom Benyon after he met Cathy Olds whose husband Martin was hacked to death in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

the previous year, in 2001, when their farm was occupied by

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

loyalists. In 2005 he was elected for a five-year term, as a lay representative of the

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, ...

, to the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

of the Church of England. He remains an active member of the Church.

Honours

Benyon was appointed

in recognition of his ''"services to vulnerable people in Zimbabwe"''.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1979 & 1983 *

External links

* 1942 births Living people People from Newmarket, Suffolk Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 British activists British Anglicans Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Wellington School, Somerset Governors of Abingdon School {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub