Tony Benn: Difference between revisions

|office1 = [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change|Secretary of State for Energy]]

|office2 = [[Secretary of State for Business and Trade|Secretary of State for Industry]]

|office4 = [[Ministry of Technology|Minister of Technology]]

|constituency_MP8 = [[Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol South East]]

|office10 = [[List of members of the House of Lords|Member of the House of Lords]]

|status10 = [[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]

|father = [[William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate|William Wedgwood Benn]]

'''Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn''' (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as '''The 2nd Viscount Stansgate''', was a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician who served as a [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet minister]] in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol South East]] and [[Chesterfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Chesterfield]] for 47 of the 51 years between [[1950 Bristol South East by-election|1950]] and [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]]. He later served as President of the [[Stop the War Coalition]] from 2001 to 2014.

The son of a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] and later Labour Party politician, Benn was born in [[Westminster]] and privately educated at [[Westminster School]]. He was elected for Bristol South East at the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 general election]] but inherited [[Viscount Stansgate|his father's peerage]] on his death, which prevented him from continuing to serve as an MP. He fought to remain in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and campaigned for the ability to renounce the title, a campaign which eventually succeeded with the [[Peerage Act 1963]]. He was an active member of the [[Fabian Society]] and served as chairman from 1964 to 1965. He served in [[Harold Wilson]]'s [[Labour government, 1964–1970|Labour government]], first as [[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom|Postmaster General]], where he oversaw the opening of the [[BT Tower|Post Office Tower]], and later as [[Minister of Technology]].

Benn served as [[National Executive Committee of the Labour Party|Chairman of the National Executive Committee]] from 1971 to 1972 while in [[His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition|Opposition]]. In the [[Labour government, 1974–1979|Labour government of 1974–1979]], he returned to the Cabinet as [[Secretary of State for Industry]] and subsequently served as [[Department of Energy (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State for Energy]]. He retained that post when [[James Callaghan]] succeeded Wilson as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]. When the Labour Party was in opposition through the 1980s, he emerged as a prominent figure on the left wing of the party and unsuccessfully [[1988 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|challenged Neil Kinnock]] for the Labour leadership in 1988. After leaving Parliament at the 2001 general election, Benn was President of the Stop the War Coalition until his death in 2014.

Benn was born in Westminster, London,<ref>Oxford National Biography.</ref> on 3 April 1925.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonybenn.com/Biography.html|title=Tony Benn – Official Website|publisher=tonybenn.com|access-date=2 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030207081541/http://www.tonybenn.com/Biography.html|archive-date=7 February 2003}}</ref> He had two brothers, Michael (1921–1944), who was killed in the Second World War, and David (1928–2017), a specialist in Russia and Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite news|last=Webb|first=Alban|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/01/david-wedgwood-benn-obituary|title=David Wedgwood Benn obituary|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 March 2017|access-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301190056/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/01/david-wedgwood-benn-obituary|archive-date=1 March 2017|url-status=live}} The youngest of his brothers, Jeremy, was still-born.</ref> Following the [[1928 Thames flood|Thames flood in January 1928]] their house was uninhabitable so the Benn family moved to Scotland for over 12 months.<ref>Tony Benn - A biography - Jad Adams (p. 8).</ref> Their father, [[William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate|William Benn]], was a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Member of Parliament from 1906 who [[crossing the floor|crossed the floor]] to the Labour Party in 1928 and was appointed [[Secretary of State for India]] by [[Ramsay MacDonald]] in 1929, a position he held until the Labour Party's landslide [[1931 United Kingdom general election|electoral defeat in 1931]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://greatwarlondon.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/william-wedgwood-benn-mp-and-war-hero/|title=William Wedgwood Benn, MP and war hero|date=14 July 2014|work=Great War London|access-date=3 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903150915/https://greatwarlondon.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/william-wedgwood-benn-mp-and-war-hero/|archive-date=3 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Benn's mother, [[Margaret Benn, Viscountess Stansgate|Margaret Benn]] (''née'' Holmes, 1897–1991), was a theologian, feminist and the founder President of the [[Congregational Federation]]. She was a member of the [[Church League for Women's Suffrage|League of the Church Militant]], which was the predecessor of the [[Movement for the Ordination of Women]]; in 1925, she was rebuked by [[Randall Davidson]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], for advocating the [[ordination of women]]. His mother's theology had a profound influence on Benn, as she taught him that the stories in the Bible were mostly about the struggle between the prophets and the kings and that he ought in his life to support the prophets over the kings, who had power, as the prophets taught [[righteousness]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Benn|first=Tony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsYKitlTrdYC&q=tony+benn+free+radical|title=Free Radical|year=2003|publisher=Continuum|page=226|isbn=978-0-8264-6596-2}}</ref>

Benn was for over 30 years a committed Christian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/forgotten-world-christian-socialism|title=The Forgotten World of Christian Socialism &#124; History Today|website=www.historytoday.com}}</ref> He said that the teachings of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] had a "radical political importance" on his life, and made a distinction between the [[historical Jesus]] as "a carpenter of Nazareth" who advocated social justice and egalitarianism and "the way in which he's presented by some religious authorities; by popes, archbishops and bishops who present Jesus as justification for their power", believing this to be a gross misunderstanding of the role of Jesus.<ref name=TBJesus>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8qC8KKdkeU|title=Tony Benn on Jesus|format=YouTube video|work=YouTube|publisher=[[Channel 4]]|access-date=29 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923124906/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8qC8KKdkeU|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> He believed that it was a "great mistake" to assume that the teachings of Christianity are outdated in modern Britain,<ref name=TBJesus /> and Higgins wrote in ''The Benn Inheritance'' that Benn was "a socialist whose political commitment owes much more to the teaching of Jesus than the writing of Marx".<ref name="Higgins1984">{{cite book|first=Sydney |last=Higgins|title=The Benn Inheritance: The Story of a Radical Family|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1aRhQgAACAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|isbn=978-0-297-78524-8|access-date=8 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320151423/https://books.google.com/books?id=1aRhQgAACAAJ|archive-date=20 March 2017|url-status=live}} Quoted in {{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Rob|title=Vital key to the real Tony Benn|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vMtAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4768%2C5509048|access-date=4 May 2016|newspaper=The Glasgow Herald|date=27 September 1984|page=8}}</ref> (Indeed, he did not read ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]'' until he was in his 50s.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/22/tony-benn-peter-wilby-reads-diaries|title=Tony Benn: Peter Wilby reads the diaries|date=22 March 2014|website=The Guardian}}</ref>) "The driving force of his life was [[Christian socialism]]," according to [[Peter Wilby]], linking Benn to the "high-minded" founding roots of Labour.<ref name="theguardian.com"/>

Later in his life, Benn emphasised issues regarding morality and righteousness, as well as various ethical principles of [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformism]]. On ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' he said that he had been powerfully influenced by "what I would call the Dissenting tradition" (that is, the [[English Dissenters]] who left or [[Great Ejection|were ejected]] from the [[State religion|established church]], one of whom was his ancestor [[William Benn (divine)|William Benn]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/14-march/news/uk/tony-benn-leaves-life-to-spend-less-time-on-politics|title=Tony Benn leaves life to spend less time on politics|website=www.churchtimes.co.uk}}</ref> "I've never thought we can understand the world we lived in unless we understood the history of the church", Benn said to the ''[[Catholic Herald]]''. "All political freedoms were won, first of all, through religious freedom. Some of the arguments about the control of the media today, which are very big arguments, are the arguments that would have been fought in the religious wars. You have the satellites coming in now—well, it is the multinational church all over again. That's why [[Margaret Thatcher|Mrs Thatcher]] pulled Britain out of [[UNESCO]]: she was not prepared, any more than [[Ronald Reagan]] was, to be part of an organisation that talked about a [[New World Information and Communication Order|New World Information Order]], people speaking to each other without the help of [[Rupert Murdoch|Murdoch]] or [[Robert Maxwell|Maxwell]]."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kenny|first1=Mary|title=Tony Benn 1925–2014: a politician shaped by Christianity|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/03/14/tony-benn-1925-2014-a-politician-shaped-by-christianity/|access-date=29 January 2016|newspaper=The Catholic Herald|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204105546/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/03/14/tony-benn-1925-2014-a-politician-shaped-by-christianity/|archive-date=4 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Wilby in the ''[[New Statesman]]'', Benn "decided to do without the paraphernalia and doctrine of organised religion but not without the teachings of Jesus".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilby|first1=Peter|title=Tony Benn's banana diet, lapsed Christians and ignoring no smoking signs|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/03/tony-benn%E2%80%99s-banana-diet-lapsed-christians-and-ignoring-no-smoking-signs|access-date=29 January 2016|work=New Statesman|date=27 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202082432/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/03/tony-benn%E2%80%99s-banana-diet-lapsed-christians-and-ignoring-no-smoking-signs|archive-date=2 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Although Benn became more agnostic as he became older, he was intrigued by the interconnections between Christianity, radicalism and socialism.<ref name="Benn2015">{{cite book|first=Tony|last= Benn|title=The Best of Benn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGkUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118|date=2 July 2015|publisher=Cornerstone|isbn=978-1-78475-032-9|page=118|access-date=5 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224112829/https://books.google.com/books?id=JGkUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118|archive-date=24 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilby also wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' that although former Chancellor [[Stafford Cripps]] described Benn as "as keen a Christian as I am myself", Benn wrote in 2005 that he was "a Christian agnostic" who believed "in Jesus the prophet, not Christ the king", specifically rejecting the label of "[[humanism|humanist]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilby|first1=Peter|title=Tony Benn: Peter Wilby reads the diaries|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/22/tony-benn-peter-wilby-reads-diaries|access-date=5 April 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|date=22 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403101126/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/22/tony-benn-peter-wilby-reads-diaries|archive-date=3 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Both of Benn's grandfathers were Liberal Party MPs; his paternal grandfather was [[Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet|John Benn]], a successful politician, MP for [[Tower Hamlets (UK Parliament constituency)|Tower Hamlets]] and later [[Plymouth Devonport (UK Parliament constituency)|Devonport]], who was created a baronet in 1914 (and who founded a publishing company, [[Ernest Benn Limited|Benn Brothers]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/58236/?back=,30705|title=Benn, Sir John Williams|work=Oxford National Dictionary of Biography Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|url-access=subscription |last=Brodie|first=Marc|date=January 2008|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> and his maternal grandfather was [[Daniel Holmes]], MP for [[Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Govan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50714/?back=,30705|title=Benn, Margaret Eadie Wedgwood|work=Oxford National Dictionary of Biography Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|url-access=subscription|last=Stearn|first=Roger T.|year=2004|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155844/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50714/?back=,30705|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Benn's contact with leading politicians of the day, dates back to his earliest years. He met Prime Minister [[Ramsay MacDonald]] when he was five years old, whom he described as: "A kindly old gentleman [who] leaned over me and offered me a chocolate biscuit. I've looked at Labour leaders in a funny way ever since."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Engel|first1=Matthew|title=The paradox of Tony Benn|url=https://next.ft.com/content/64814e38-ab7b-11e3-8cae-00144feab7de|access-date=8 April 2016|work=Financial Times|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703110320/https://next.ft.com/content/64814e38-ab7b-11e3-8cae-00144feab7de|archive-date=3 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Benn also met former Liberal Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]] when he was 12, and later recalled that, while still a boy, he once shook hands with [[Mahatma Gandhi]], in 1931, while his father was [[Secretary of State for India]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=McSmith|first1=Andy|last2=Dalyell|first2=Tam|title=Tony Benn obituary: Politician who embodied the soul of the Labour Party and came to be admired – even by his rivals|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/politician-who-embodied-the-soul-of-the-labour-party-and-came-to-be-admired-even-by-his-rivals-9192333.html|access-date=10 April 2016|newspaper=The Independent|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410045948/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/politician-who-embodied-the-soul-of-the-labour-party-and-came-to-be-admired-even-by-his-rivals-9192333.html|archive-date=10 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Benn joined and trained with the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] from the age of 16, later recalling in a speech made in 2009: "I could use a bayonet, a rifle, a revolver, and if I'd seen a German officer having a meal I'd have tossed a grenade through the window. Would I have been a freedom fighter or a terrorist?"<ref name="Stop the War Coalition">{{cite AV media|people=Jesse Oldershaw (camera); Andy Cousins (editor)|date=25 April 2009|title=Tony Benn – Stop the War Conference 2009|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og4K4yhQF8E|publisher=Stop the War Coalition|time=3:06|access-date=13 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615151142/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og4K4yhQF8E|archive-date=15 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>A fuller transcript of that speech, in which he called the Home Guard "Dad's Army", is given in the section "Retirement and final years".</ref> In July 1943, Benn enlisted in the [[Royal Air Force]] as an [[aircraftman]] 2nd Class.<ref name="BioChannel">{{cite web|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/455:0/1/Tony_Benn.htm |title=Tony Benn |work=The Biography Channel |access-date=2 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184842/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/455%3A0/1/Tony_Benn.htm |archive-date=30 September 2007 }}</ref> His father and elder brother Michael (who was later killed in an accident) were already serving in the RAF. He was granted an emergency commission as a [[pilot officer]] (on probation) on 10 March 1945.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37124 |supp=y|page=3077|date=8 June 1945}}</ref> As a pilot officer, Benn served as a pilot in South Africa and [[Southern Rhodesia]].<ref name="Clark2013">{{cite book|first=Raymond|last= Clark|title=To the End, They Remain: Thoughts on War, Peace and Reconciliation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_c6AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27|date=1 October 2013|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7509-5308-5|page=27}}</ref> In June 1944, he made his first solo flight, at RAF Guinea Fowl, an [[List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Southern Rhodesia|RAF Elementary Flying Training School]], in Southern Rhodesia.<ref>Approximate latitude/longitude from Google Maps and Earth: 19°31'21.8"S 29°55'58.7"E;</ref> The aircraft was a Canadian-built [[Fairchild PT-19|Fairchild Cornell]]. In a 1993 article recounting the experience, he said, "I always thought that I would feel a sense of panic when I saw the ground coming up at me on my first solo, but strangely enough I didn't feel anything but exhilaration&nbsp;...".<ref>Tony Benn, "First Solo," in High Flyers:30 Reminiscences to Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force, Michael Fopp (ed.), Greenhill Books in Association with the Royal Air Force Museum, London 1993 p. 39</ref> He relinquished his commission with effect from 10 August 1945, three months after the Second World War ended in Europe on 8 May, and just days before the war with Japan ended on 2 September.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37327 |supp=y|page=5276|date=26 October 1945}}</ref>

Benn met [[Caroline Benn|Caroline Middleton DeCamp]] (born 13 October 1926, [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, United States) over tea at [[Worcester College, Oxford]], in 1949; just nine days after meeting her, he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from [[Oxford City Council]] and installed it in the garden of their home in [[Holland Park]]. Tony and Caroline had four children—[[Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate|Stephen]], [[Hilary Benn|Hilary]], [[Melissa Benn|Melissa]], a feminist writer, and Joshua—and 10 grandchildren. Caroline Benn died of cancer on 22 November 2000, aged 74, after a career as an educationalist.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1375544/Caroline-Benn.html|title=Caroline Benn|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph Media Group|date=24 November 2000|access-date=2 May 2010|location=London, UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120130139/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1375544/Caroline-Benn.html|archive-date=20 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Two of Benn's children have been active in Labour Party politics. His eldest son Stephen was an elected Member of the [[Inner London Education Authority]] from 1986 to 1990. His second son [[Hilary Benn|Hilary]] was a councillor in London, stood for Parliament in [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]] and [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987]], and became Labour MP for [[Leeds Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Leeds Central]] in 1999. He was [[Minister of State for Development and Africa|Secretary of State for International Development]] from 2003 to 2007, and then [[Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]] until 2010, later serving as Shadow Foreign Secretary (2015–16).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36632539|title=Brexit: Hilary Benn sacked as Corbyn faces 'no confidence' pressure|date=26 June 2016|access-date=27 June 2016|location=London, UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721022342/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36632539|archive-date=21 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> This makes him the third generation of his family to have been a member of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]], a rare distinction for a modern political family in Britain. Benn's granddaughter [[Emily Benn]] was the Labour Party's youngest-ever candidate<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5452741.ece|title=Emily Benn the younger|work=Times Online|publisher=Times Newspapers|date=10 January 2009|access-date=2 May 2010|location=London, UK|first=Alexia|last=Skinitis|url-access=subscription }}</ref> when she failed to win [[East Worthing and Shoreham (UK Parliament constituency)|East Worthing and Shoreham]] in [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7011922.stm|title=Benn's granddaughter runs for MP|date=25 September 2007|work=BBC News|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223182432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7011922.stm|archive-date=23 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Benn was a first cousin once removed of the actress [[Margaret Rutherford]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/26/screen-legends-margaret-rutherford|title=Philip French's screenlegends: Margaret Rutherford|newspaper=The Observer|date=26 July 2009|author-link=Philip French|last=French|first=Philip|access-date=2 May 2010|location=London, UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102114344/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/26/screen-legends-margaret-rutherford|archive-date=2 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the Second World War, Benn worked briefly as a [[BBC Radio]] producer. On 1 November 1950, he was selected to succeed [[Stafford Cripps]] as the Labour candidate for [[Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol South East]], after Cripps stood down because of ill-health. He won the seat in [[1950 Bristol South East by-election|a by-election on 30 November 1950]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/366619.stm|title=The Benn dynasty|date=11 June 1999|work=BBC News|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014000622/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/366619.stm|archive-date=14 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Anthony Crosland]] helped him get the seat as he was the MP for nearby [[South Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Gloucestershire]] at the time. Upon taking the oath on 4 December 1950<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1950/dec/04/new-members-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501204_HOC_256|title=New Members Sworn|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=4 December 1950|publisher=House of Commons|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716140514/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1950/dec/04/new-members-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501204_HOC_256|archive-date=16 July 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Benn became "[[Baby of the House]]", the youngest MP, for one day, being succeeded by [[Thomas Teevan (Unionist politician)|Thomas Teevan]], who was two years younger but took his oath a day later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1950/dec/05/new-member-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501205_HOC_264|title=New Members Sworn|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=5 December 1950|publisher=House of Commons|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017213221/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1950/dec/05/new-member-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501205_HOC_264|archive-date=17 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> He became the "Baby" again in 1951, when Teevan was not re-elected. In the 1950s, Benn held middle-of-the-road or soft left views, and was not associated with the young left wing group around [[Aneurin Bevan]].<ref name=BBCBRistolprofile>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/04/03/tony_benn_profile_feature.shtml|title=Profile: Tony Benn|work=BBC Bristol|date=4 April 2008|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220151008/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/04/03/tony_benn_profile_feature.shtml|archive-date=20 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

As MP for Bristol South East, Benn helped organise the 1963 [[Bristol Bus Boycott]]<ref>{{cite news|title=How we organised to break racism on Bristol buses|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/34583/|access-date=4 May 2016|work=[[Socialist Worker]]|issue=2374|publisher=[[Socialist Workers Party (UK)|Socialist Workers Party]]|date=8 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220071333/https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/34583/|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> against the [[Racial segregation|colour bar]] of the [[Bristol Omnibus Company]] against employing [[Black British people|Black British]] and [[British Asian]] drivers. Benn said that he would "stay off the buses, even if I have to find a bike", and Labour leader [[Harold Wilson]] also told an anti-apartheid rally in London he was "glad that so many Bristolians are supporting the [boycott] campaign", adding that he "wish[ed] them every success".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=Jon|title=What was behind the Bristol bus boycott?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23795655|access-date=4 May 2016|work=[[BBC News Magazine]]|date=27 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911105036/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23795655|archive-date=11 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Benn continued his campaign outside Parliament. Within two years, though, the [[Conservative government, 1957–1964|Conservative Government]] of the time, which had members in the same or similar situation to Benn's (i.e., who were going to receive title, or who had already applied for writs of summons), changed the law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/48 |title=Peerage Act 1963 |access-date=23 April 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223210742/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/48 |archive-date=23 December 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Jad Adams, ''Tony Benn: A Biography'' (MacMillan 1992) {{ISBN|978-1849540964}} pp. 203–204, e.g., Viscount Hinchingbrooke, and Lords Hogg and Douglas-Home.</ref> The [[Peerage Act 1963]], allowing lifetime disclaimer of peerages, became law shortly after 6&nbsp;pm on 31 July 1963. Benn was the first peer to renounce his title, doing so at 6.22&nbsp;pm that day.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=43072 |date=2 August 1963 |page=6534}}</ref> St Clair, fulfilling a promise he had made at the time of his election, then accepted the office of [[Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead|Steward of the Manor of Northstead]], disqualifying himself from the House ([[Resignation from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom|outright resignation not being possible]]). Benn returned to the Commons after [[1963 Bristol South East by-election|winning a by-election]] on 20 August 1963.<ref name=BBCBRistolprofile/>

In the [[Labour government, 1964–1970|1964 Government]] led by [[Harold Wilson]], Benn was [[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom|Postmaster General]], where he oversaw the opening of the [[BT Tower|Post Office Tower]], then [[List of tallest buildings in the United Kingdom|the UK's tallest building]], and the creations of the Post Bus service and [[Girobank]]. He proposed issuing stamps without the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Sovereign]]'s head, but this met with private opposition from [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Tony Benn dies: his most memorable quotes|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10697145/Tony-Benn-dies-his-most-memorable-quotes.html|work=The Telegraph|access-date=14 March 2014|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314081114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10697145/Tony-Benn-dies-his-most-memorable-quotes.html|archive-date=14 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Instead, the portrait was reduced to a small profile in silhouette, a format that is still used on commemorative stamps.<ref>{{cite news|title=Five lesser-spotted things Tony Benn gave the UK|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26575843|access-date=5 May 2016|work=BBC News|publisher=Magazine Monitor: A collection of cultural artefacts|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925135426/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26575843|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Benn also led the government's opposition to the [[Pirate radio in the United Kingdom#1960s|"pirate" radio stations]] broadcasting from international waters, which he was aware would be an unpopular measure.<ref>[[Asa Briggs|Briggs, Asa]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=0pRGjVGtUvwC&pg=PA515 ''The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume V: Competition''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904100627/https://books.google.com/books?id=0pRGjVGtUvwC&pg=PA515 |date=4 September 2015 }}, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 515–19, 540.</ref> He claimed that some of these stations were causing interference to emergency radio used by shipping,<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1966/jun/22/wireless-and-television-pirate-stations "Wireless and Television (Pirate Stations)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004233459/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1966/jun/22/wireless-and-television-pirate-stations |date=4 October 2013 }}, ''Hansard'', HC Deb, vol. 730 cc858-70, 22 June 1966.</ref> although he was not responsible for introducing the [[Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967|Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill]] when it came before Parliament at the end of July 1966 for its first reading.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1966/jul/27/marine-c-broadcasting-offences "Marine, & C., Broadcasting (Offences)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191839/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1966/jul/27/marine-c-broadcasting-offences |date=29 October 2013 }}, HC Deb 27 July 1966, ''Hansard'', vol. 732 c1720.</ref>

{{blockquote|The flag of [[racialism]] which has been hoisted in Wolverhampton is beginning to look like the one that fluttered 25 years ago over [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] and [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Belsen]]. If we do not speak up now against the filthy and obscene racialist propaganda ... the forces of hatred will mark up their first success and mobilise their first offensive...Enoch Powell has emerged as the real leader of the Conservative Party. He is a far stronger character than [[Edward Heath|Mr. Heath]]. He speaks his mind; Heath does not. The final proof of Powell's power is that Heath dare not attack him publicly, even when he says things that disgust decent Conservatives.<ref name="ButlerPinto-Duschinsky1971" />}}

The [[mainstream media|mainstream press]] attacked Benn for using language deemed as intemperate as Powell's language in his "Rivers of Blood" speech (which was widely regarded as racist),<ref name="ButlerPinto-Duschinsky1971" /> and Benn noted in his diary that "letters began pouring in on the Powell speech: 2:1 against me but some very sympathetic ones saying that my speech was overdue".<ref name="Benn2013 p.230">{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Benn|title=The Benn Diaries: 1940–1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdCp8S5XK9wC&pg=PA230|date=31 January 2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-9373-1|page=230}}</ref> [[Harold Wilson]] later reprimanded Benn for this speech, accusing him of losing Labour seats in the 1970 general election.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rabzGlRdsmk "Racist Laws 1971"] ''Black History Walks'' (YouTube).</ref>

In the [[Labour government, 1974–1979|Labour Government of 1974]], Benn was [[Secretary of State for Business and Trade|Secretary of State for Industry]] and as such increased [[nationalization|nationalised industry]] pay, provided better terms and conditions for workers such as the [[Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974|Health and Safety at Work Act 1974]] and was involved in setting up [[worker cooperative]]s in firms which were struggling,<ref>{{cite web|last=Hird|first=Christopher|url=http://www.newint.org/issue106/giants.htm|title=The Crippled Giants|work=New Internationalist|date=December 1981|access-date=18 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125103953/http://www.newint.org/issue106/giants.htm|archive-date=25 November 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> the best known being at [[Meriden, West Midlands|Meriden]], outside [[Coventry]], producing Triumph Motorcycles. In 1975, he was appointed [[Department of Energy (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State for Energy]], immediately following his unsuccessful campaign for a "No" vote in the [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Community (Common Market)]]. Later in his diary, (25 October 1977) Benn wrote that he "loathed" the EEC; he claimed it was "bureaucratic and centralised" and "of course it is really dominated by [[West Germany|Germany]]. All the Common Market countries except the UK have been occupied by Germany, and they have this mixed feeling of hatred and subservience towards the Germans".<ref>{{cite book|last=Benn|first=Tony|title=The Benn Diaries|publisher=Arrow|year=1995|page=432|isbn= 978-0-09-963411-9}}</ref>

[[Harold Wilson]] resigned as [[Labour Party (UK)#Leaders of the Labour Party since 1906|Leader of the Labour Party]] and [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] in March 1976. Benn later attributed the collapse of the Wilson government to cuts enforced on the UK by [[Globalization|global capital]], in particular the International Monetary Fund.<ref name="Bagely">{{cite news|last1=Bagley|first1=Richard|title=Into The Archives: Tony Benn On The True Power Of Democracy|url=http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7a6a-Into-the-archives-Tony-Benn-on-the-true-power-of-democracy|access-date=2 April 2016|newspaper=The Morning Star|date=1 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413114200/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7a6a-Into-the-archives-Tony-Benn-on-the-true-power-of-democracy|archive-date=13 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|resulting leadership contest]] Benn finished in fourth place out of the six cabinet ministers who stood—he withdrew as 11.8 per cent of colleagues voted for him in the first ballot. Benn withdrew from the second ballot and endorsed [[Michael Foot]]; [[James Callaghan]] eventually won. Despite not receiving his support in the second and third rounds of the vote, Callaghan kept Benn on as Energy Secretary. In 1976, there was a [[Pound sterling|sterling]] crisis, and [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[Denis Healey]] sought a loan from the [[International Monetary Fund]]. Underlining a wish to counter international market forces which seemed to penalise a larger [[welfare state]], Benn publicly circulated the divided Cabinet minutes in which a narrow majority of the Labour Cabinet under [[Ramsay MacDonald]] supported a cut in unemployment benefits in order to obtain a loan from American bankers. As he highlighted, these minutes resulted in the 1931 split of the Labour Party in which MacDonald and [[National Labour Organisation|his allies]] formed a [[National Government (United Kingdom)|National Government]] with Conservatives and Liberals. Callaghan allowed Benn to put forward the [[Alternative Economic Strategy]], which consisted of a [[Self-sustainability|self-sufficient]] economy less dependent on low-rate fresh borrowing, but the AES, which according to opponents would have led to a "siege economy", was rejected by the Cabinet.<ref>{{cite book|last=Powell|first=David|title=Tony Benn: a political life|publisher=Continuum|location=London & New York|year=2003|edition=2nd|pages=82, 84|isbn=978-0-8264-7074-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYeVIfy0by8C&q=alternative%20economic%20strategy%20tony%20benn&pg=PA82}}</ref> In response, Benn later recalled that: "I retorted that their policy was a siege economy, only they had the bankers inside the castle with all our supporters left outside, whereas my policy would have our supporters in the castle with the bankers outside."<ref name="Bagely" /> Benn blamed the [[Winter of Discontent]] on these cuts to socialist policies.<ref name="Bagely" />

By the end of the 1970s, Benn's views had shifted to the [[left-wing politics|left-wing]] of the Labour Party. He attributed this political shift to his experience as a Cabinet Minister in the [[Labour government, 1964–1970|1964–1970 Labour Government]]. Benn ascribed his move to the left to four lessons:

{{blockquote|Compared to this, the pressure brought to bear in industrial disputes by the unions is minuscule. This power was revealed even more clearly in 1976 when the [[International Monetary Fund]] secured cuts in our public expenditure. ... These [four] lessons led me to the conclusion that the UK is only superficially governed by MPs and the voters who elect them. [[Parliamentary system|Parliamentary democracy]] is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact. If the British people were ever to ask themselves what power they truly enjoyed under our political system they would be amazed to discover how little it is, and some new [[Chartism|Chartist]] agitation might be born and might quickly gather momentum.<ref>{{cite book |last=Benn |first=Tony |title=Out of the Wilderness: Diaries 1963–67 |url=https://archive.org/details/outofwildernessd0000benn |url-access=registration | year=1988 |page=xiii |publisher=Arrow |isbn=9780099586708 }}</ref>}}

Benn's philosophy consisted of a form of [[syndicalism]], [[planned economy|state planning]] where necessary to ensure national competitiveness, greater democracy in the structures of the Labour Party and observance of Party Conference decisions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kavanagh |first=Dennis |chapter=Tony Benn: Nuisance or Conscience? |editor= Kavanagh, Dennis |title=Politics and Personalities |year=1990 |page=184 }}</ref> Alongside an alleged 12 Labour MPs,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/profiles/story/0,9396,-361,00.html|title=Tony Benn {{!}} Aristotle {{!}} guardian.co.uk Politics|website=www.theguardian.com|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603203419/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/profiles/story/0,9396,-361,00.html|archive-date=3 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> he spent 12 years affiliated with the [[Institute for Workers' Control]], beginning in 1971 when he visited the [[Upper Clyde Shipbuilders|Upper Clyde Shipyards]], arguing in 1975 for the "labour movement to intensify its discussion about [[industrial democracy]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Matthews|first1=Nick|title=Benn, co-ops and workplace democracy|url=http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/getDocument/DWMS_2014_04_14_020?fileType=PDF|access-date=9 April 2016|work=The Morning Star|date=14 April 2014|page=20|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419165216/http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/getDocument/DWMS_2014_04_14_020?fileType=PDF|archive-date=19 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

He publicly supported [[Sinn Féin]] and the [[united Ireland|unification of Ireland]], although in 2005 he suggested to Sinn Féin leaders that it abandon its long-standing policy of not taking seats at Westminster ([[abstentionism]]). Sinn Féin in turn argued that to do so would recognise Britain's claim over [[Northern Ireland]], and the Sinn Féin constitution prevented its elected members from taking their seats in any British-created institution.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/northern_ireland/4540343.stm |title=Benn's call for SF to take seats |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date= 12 May 2005 |access-date=2 May 2010 }}</ref> A supporter of the [[Scottish Parliament]] and [[Devolution|political devolution]], Benn however opposed the [[Scottish National Party]] and [[Scottish independence]], saying: "I think nationalism is a mistake. And I am half Scots and feel it would divide me in half with a knife. The thought that my mother would suddenly be a foreigner would upset me very much."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Peterkin|first1=Tom|title=Scottish independence: Tony Benn: 'UK split would divide me with a knife'|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-independence-tony-benn-uk-split-would-divide-me-with-a-knife-1-2475596|access-date=6 February 2016|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=18 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207065807/http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-independence-tony-benn-uk-split-would-divide-me-with-a-knife-1-2475596|archive-date=7 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Politics of the United Kingdom|British politics]] during this period, the term "Bennism" came into use to describe the [[conviction politics]], economic, social and political ideology of Tony Benn; and an exponent or advocate of Bennism was regarded as a "Bennite".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://leftunity.org/benn-and-bennism/ |title=Benn and Bennism |publisher=LeftUnity |first=Kellaway |last=Dave |date=14 March 2014|access-date=13 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619060406/http://leftunity.org/benn-and-bennism/ |archive-date=19 June 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Marr, pp. 392–395 (''The Left at War With Itself'').</ref><ref name="sr205">{{cite news|last=Renton|first=Dave|date=February 1997|title=Does Labour's Left Have an Alternative?|work=Socialist Review|url=http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr205/labour.htm|url-status=dead|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030911080922/http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr205/labour.htm|archive-date=11 September 2003}}</ref>

For the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 election]] Benn's Bristol South East constituency was abolished by boundary changes, and he lost to [[Michael Cocks]] in the selection of a candidate to stand in the new winnable seat of [[Bristol South (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol South]]. Rejecting offers from the new seat of [[Livingston (UK Parliament constituency)|Livingston]] in Scotland, Benn contested [[Bristol East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol East]], losing to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]'s [[Jonathan Sayeed]] in June 1983. Foot resigned as leader following the defeat which reduced Labour to only 209 MPs, while Healey also decided to step down as deputy leader. However Benn's absence from parliament meant that he was unable to stand in the [[1983 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|resulting leadership contest]] as only MPs were eligible to be candidates.<ref name="GH13061983">{{cite news |last1=Russell |first1=William |title=Race is on for Labour Leader |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19830613&printsec=frontpage |access-date=16 December 2019 |newspaper=The Glasgow Herald |date=13 June 1983}}</ref> Benn's absence from the contest was reported by ''The [[The Herald (Glasgow)|Glasgow Herald]]'' to leave [[Neil Kinnock]] as "the favourite Left-wing candidate".<ref name="GH13061983"/> Ultimately Kinnock won the contest, formally replacing Foot as party leader in October of that year.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/27/443/107065937w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS51350883&dyn=21!xrn_30_0_CS51350883&hst_1?sw_aep=uwesteng|title=Labour's new line-up|newspaper=The Times |publisher=archived by Gale Group|date=3 November 1983|access-date=3 May 2010|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1991, with Labour still in opposition and a general election due by June 1992, he proposed the [[Commonwealth of Britain Bill]], abolishing the [[monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarchy]] in favour of the United Kingdom becoming a "democratic, federal and [[Secularism|secular]] [[commonwealth]]", a [[republic]] with a written constitution. It was read in Parliament a number of times until his retirement at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 election]], but never achieved a [[Reading (legislature)|second reading]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/bills/commonwealth-of-britain-bill|title=Commonwealth of Britain Bill|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|publisher=House of Commons|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017213239/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/bills/commonwealth-of-britain-bill|archive-date=17 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> He presented an account of his proposal in ''[[Common Sense (Benn)|Common Sense: A New Constitution for Britain]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Benn|first1=Tony|last2=Hood|first2= Andrew|title=Common Sense: New Constitution for Britain|editor=Hood, Andrew|publisher=Hutchinson|location=London|date=17 June 1993|isbn=978-0-09-177308-3}}</ref>

In 1991, Benn reiterated his opposition to the [[European Commission]] and highlighted an alleged [[Democratic legitimacy of the European Union|democratic deficit in the institution]], saying: "Some people genuinely believe that we shall never get social justice from the British Government, but we shall get it from [[Jacques Delors]]. They believe that a good king is better than a bad Parliament. I have never taken that view."<ref>{{cite news|title=Column 333|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199192/cmhansrd/1991-11-20/Debate-6.html|access-date=25 April 2016|agency=[[Hansard]], [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]|date=20 November 1991|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508234655/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199192/cmhansrd/1991-11-20/Debate-6.html|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MacArthur2012">{{cite book|first=Brian |last=MacArthur|title=The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1jOYbhvgP4C&pg=PT389|date=3 May 2012|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-0-14-190916-5|page=389}}</ref> This argument has also been used by many on the right-wing [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]] wing of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], such as [[Daniel Hannan]] [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]].<ref name="Hannan2016">{{cite book|first=Daniel|last= Hannan|title=Why Vote Leave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJGGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT43|date=24 March 2016|publisher=Head of Zeus|isbn=978-1-78497-709-2|page=43}}</ref> [[Jonathan Freedland]] writes in ''[[The Guardian]]'': "For [Tony Benn], even benign rule by a monarch was worthless because the king's whim could change and there'd be nothing you could do about it."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Freedland|first1=Jonathan|author-link1=Jonathan Freedland|title=EU referendum: the next big populist wave could sweep Britain out of Europe|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/09/eu-referendum-britain-out-europe-brexit|access-date=25 April 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|date=9 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508230718/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/09/eu-referendum-britain-out-europe-brexit|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1997, the Labour Party under [[Premiership of Tony Blair|the leadership of Tony Blair]] won [[1997 United Kingdom general election|the general election]] in a landslide, after 18 years of Conservative Party rule. Despite later calling Labour under Blair "the idea of a Conservative group who had taken over Labour"<ref>{{cite news|last1=Delaney|first1=Sam|title=Tony Benn interview: "Labour suffered greatly through Tony Blair"|url=http://www.bigissue.com/features/interviews/3202/tony-benn-interview-labour-suffered-greatly-through-tony-blair|access-date=7 April 2016|work=Big Issue|date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120065622/http://www.bigissue.com/features/interviews/3202/tony-benn-interview-labour-suffered-greatly-through-tony-blair|archive-date=20 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and saying that "[Blair] set up a new political party, [[New Labour]]",<ref>{{cite news|last1=Benn|first1=Tony|title=Tony Benn: 'What is really significant about Tony Blair was that he set up a new political party, New Labour'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/05/tony-blair-journey-tony-benn|access-date=7 April 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417013853/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/05/tony-blair-journey-tony-benn|archive-date=17 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> his political diaries ''Free at Last'' show that Benn was initially somewhat sympathetic to Blair, welcoming a change of government. Benn supported the introduction of the [[National Minimum Wage Act 1998|national minimum wage]], and welcomed [[Good Friday Agreement|the progress towards peace and security in Northern Ireland]] (particularly under [[Mo Mowlam]]). He was supportive of the extra money given to public services in the New Labour years but believed it to be under the guise of privatisation. Overall, his concluding judgement on New Labour is highly critical; he describes its evolution as a way of retaining office by abandoning socialism and distancing the party from the trade union movement,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mortimer|first1=Jim|title=Tony Benn: An inspiring symbol of political steadfastness and advocacy|url=http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/getDocument/DWMS_2002_11_20_009?fileType=PDF|access-date=7 April 2016|newspaper=Morning Star|date=20 November 2002|page=9|format=PDF|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418233811/http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/getDocument/DWMS_2002_11_20_009?fileType=PDF|archive-date=18 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> adopting a [[Presidential system|presidentialist]] style of politics, overriding the concept of the [[Cabinet collective responsibility|collective ministerial responsibility]] by reducing the power of the Cabinet, eliminated any effective influence from the annual conference of the Labour Party and "hinged its foreign policy on support for one of the worst presidents in US history".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mortimer|first1=Jim|title=Telling it straight|url=http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/getDocument/DWMS_2003_05_06_008?fileType=PDF|access-date=7 April 2016|newspaper=Morning Star|date=6 May 2003|page=8|format=PDF|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418203745/http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/getDocument/DWMS_2003_05_06_008?fileType=PDF|archive-date=18 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Benn strongly objected to the [[1998 bombing of Iraq|bombing of Iraq]] in December 1998,<ref>{{cite news|title=Tony Benn dies: watch archive clip of Labour stalwart in Parliament|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10697203/Tony-Benn-dies-watch-archive-clip-of-Labour-stalwart-in-Parliament.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 March 2014|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803172051/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10697203/Tony-Benn-dies-watch-archive-clip-of-Labour-stalwart-in-Parliament.html|archive-date=3 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> calling it immoral and saying: "Aren't Arabs terrified? Aren't Iraqis terrified? Don't Arab and Iraqi women weep when their children die? Does bombing strengthen their determination? ... Every Member of Parliament tonight who votes for the government motion will be consciously and deliberately accepting the responsibility for the deaths of innocent people if the war begins, as I fear it will."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Allegretti|first1=Aubrey|title=If Tony Benn Were Here Today, He Might Use This Iraq Speech To Defend Not Bombing Syria|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12/02/syria-vote-airstrikes-tony-benn-iraq-speech_n_8700306.html|access-date=8 April 2016|work=The Huffington Post UK|date=3 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409204142/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12/02/syria-vote-airstrikes-tony-benn-iraq-speech_n_8700306.html|archive-date=9 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Benn also opposed the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/apr/18/balkans12 |title=Fighting for democracy while Kosovo burns|last= Benn |first= Tony |date=18 April 1999 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=24 October 2022}}</ref>

On 27 September 2005, Benn became ill while attending the annual [[Labour Party Conference]] in [[Brighton]] and was taken by ambulance to the [[Royal Sussex County Hospital]] after being treated by paramedics on-the-scene at the Brighton Centre. Benn reportedly fell and struck his head. He was kept in hospital for observation and was described as being in a "comfortable condition".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/sep/28/labourconference.labour2|title=Tony Benn 'comfortable' in hospital after fall|newspaper=The Guardian|date=28 September 2005|last=Staff|access-date=3 May 2010|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228211812/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/sep/28/labourconference.labour2|archive-date=28 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> He was subsequently fitted with an [[artificial cardiac pacemaker|artificial pacemaker]] to help regulate his heartbeat.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4300306.stm|title=Benn gets pacemaker after fall|work=BBC News|access-date=3 May 2010|date=1 October 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109181246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4300306.stm|archive-date=9 November 2005|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a list compiled by the magazine ''[[New Statesman]]'' in 2006, he was voted twelfth in the list of "Heroes of our Time". In September 2006, Benn joined the "Time to Go" demonstration in [[Manchester]] the day before the final Labour Party Conference with [[Tony Blair]] as Leader of the Labour Party, with the aim of persuading the Government to withdraw troops from [[Iraq]], to refrain from attacking [[Iran]] and to reject replacing the [[Trident (missile)|Trident missile]] and [[Vanguard-class submarine|submarines]] with a new system. He spoke to the demonstrators in the rally afterwards.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5373128.stm|title=Thousands at city's anti-war demo|work=BBC News|date=23 September 2006|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317113454/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5373128.stm|archive-date=17 March 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2007, he appeared in an extended segment in the [[Michael Moore]] film ''[[Sicko]]'' giving comments about democracy, social responsibility and healthcare, notably, "If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/15/10-of-the-best-tony-benn-quotes-as-picked-by-our-readers| first=James |last=Walsh| title=10 of the best Tony Benn quotes – as picked by our readers| newspaper=The Guardian| location=London| date=15 March 2014| access-date=22 August 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625211116/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/15/10-of-the-best-tony-benn-quotes-as-picked-by-our-readers| archive-date=25 June 2014| url-status=live}}</ref> A poll by the [[BBC Two|BBC2]] ''[[Daily Politics|The Daily Politics]]'' programme in January 2007 selected Benn as the UK's "Political Hero" with 38% of the vote, narrowly defeating [[Margaret Thatcher]], who had 35%.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/6161847.stm|title=The Magnificent Seven political heroes...|date=12 December 2006|work=BBC News|access-date=4 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210072041/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/6161847.stm|archive-date=10 February 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

For the [[2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|2007 Labour Party leadership election]], Benn backed the left-wing MP [[John McDonnell]] in his unsuccessful bid. In September 2007, Benn called for the government to hold a referendum on the [[Treaty of Lisbon|EU Reform Treaty]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7011231.stm|title=Give us EU referendum, says Benn|work=BBC News|date=24 September 2007|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203170159/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7011231.stm|archive-date=3 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2007, aged 82, and when it appeared that a general election was about to be held, Benn reportedly announced that he wanted to stand, having written to his local [[Constituency Labour Party]] offering himself as a prospective candidate for the newly drawn [[Kensington (UK Parliament constituency)|Kensington]] seat. His main opponent would have been the incumbent Conservative MP for the predecessor seat of [[Kensington and Chelsea (UK Parliament constituency)|Kensington and Chelsea]], [[Malcolm Rifkind]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7028042.stm|title=I want to be an MP again – Benn|work=BBC News|date=4 October 2007|access-date=4 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011012553/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7028042.stm|archive-date=11 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,2183661,00.html|title=Benn: I want to return to parliament|last=Attewill|first=Fred|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=4 October 2007|access-date=5 October 2007}}</ref> However, there was no election held in 2007, and so the boundary changes did not take effect until the eventual election in 2010, when Benn was not a candidate and the new seat was won by Rifkind.

In early 2008, Benn appeared on Scottish singer-songwriter [[Colin MacIntyre]]'s album ''[[The Water (Colin MacIntyre album)|The Water]]'', reading a poem he had written himself.<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3670995/Tony-Benn-pop-star.html|title=Tony Benn, pop star|date=7 February 2008|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=5 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322043004/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3670995/Tony-Benn-pop-star.html|archive-date=22 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/house-music-tony-benns-debut-solo-album-800170.html|title=House music: Tony Benn's debut solo album|date=25 March 2008|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=6 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226171446/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/house-music-tony-benns-debut-solo-album-800170.html|archive-date=26 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2008, he appeared on the DVD release for the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story ''[[The War Machines]]'' with a vignette discussing the [[BT Tower|Post Office Tower]]; he became the second Labour politician, after [[Roy Hattersley]] to appear on a ''Doctor Who'' DVD.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://totalscifionline.com/reviews/2386-doctor-who-the-war-machines|title=Doctor Who: The War Machines Review|work=Total SciFi Online|date=21 August 2008|last=Wilkins|first=Jonathan|access-date=3 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226100355/http://totalscifionline.com/reviews/2386-doctor-who-the-war-machines|archive-date=26 February 2012}}</ref>

In 2012, Benn was awarded an honorary degree from [[Goldsmiths, University of London]]. He was also the honorary president of the [[Goldsmiths Students' Union]], who successfully campaigned for him to retract comments dismissing the [[Julian Assange]] rape allegations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gold.ac.uk/news/goldsmiths-academics-pay-tribute-to-tony-benn/ |title=Goldsmiths academics pay tribute to Tony Benn |website=Goldsmiths, University of London |access-date=3 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073954/http://www.gold.ac.uk/news/goldsmiths-academics-pay-tribute-to-tony-benn/ |archive-date=20 December 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/09/18/tony-benn-sorry-for-dismissing-assange-rape-allegations/ |title=Benn sorry for dismissing Assange rape allegations |website=Liberal Conspiracy |date=18 September 2012 |access-date=3 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904084659/http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/09/18/tony-benn-sorry-for-dismissing-assange-rape-allegations/ |archive-date=4 September 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2013, Benn was among those who gave their support to the [[People's Assembly Against Austerity|People's Assembly]] in a letter published by ''The Guardian'' newspaper.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/feb/05/people-assembly-against-austerity People's Assembly opening letter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725065133/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/feb/05/people-assembly-against-austerity |date=25 July 2015 }}, ''The Guardian'', 5 February 2013.</ref> He gave a speech at the People's Assembly Conference held at [[Methodist Central Hall, Westminster|Westminster Central Hall]] on 22 June 2013.

Benn was consistently one of the most vocal critics of [[United Kingdom membership of the European Union|British membership of the European Union]] in Parliament, citing the EU's "[[democratic deficit]]" as a main point of contempt.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Benn |first1=Tony |last2=Worcester |first2=Kent |date=1991 |title=Europe's Democratic Deficit |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209235 |journal=World Policy Journal |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=739–753 |jstor=40209235 |issn=0740-2775}}</ref> In 2013, Benn reiterated his previous opposition to [[European integration]]. Speaking to the [[Oxford Union]] on the alleged overshadowing of the EU debate by "UKIP and Tory backbenchers", he said:{{blockquote|I took the view that having fought [Europeans in the [[World War II|Second World War]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> that we should now work with them, and co-operate, and that was my first thought about it. Then how I saw how the European Union was developing, it was very obvious that what they had in mind was not democratic. ... And the way that Europe has developed is that the bankers and the [[multinational corporation]]s have got very powerful positions, and if you come in on their terms, they will tell you what you can and cannot do. And that is unacceptable. My view about the European Union has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners, but that I am in favour of democracy ... I think they're building an empire there, they want us to be a part of their empire and I don't want that.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0wFii8klNg|first=Tony|last= Benn|work=[[Oxford Union]]|title=European Union|date=25 March 2013|access-date=4 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426104445/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0wFii8klNg|archive-date=26 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Benn's funeral took place on 27 March 2014 at [[St Margaret's, Westminster|St Margaret's Church, Westminster]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26766936 |title=Tony Benn's funeral takes place in Westminster |publisher=BBC |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330213826/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26766936 |archive-date=30 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=guardian-20140327>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/27/tony-benn-funeral-bedfellows-foes-unite |title=Bedfellows and foes unite at Tony Benn's funeral |author-link=Owen Jones (writer) |first=Owen |last=Jones|newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413130101/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/27/tony-benn-funeral-bedfellows-foes-unite |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> His body had lain in rest at [[St Mary Undercroft]] in the [[Palace of Westminster]] the night before the funeral service.<ref name=bbc-20140320>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26664023 |title=Queen approves Tony Benn overnight vigil in Parliament's chapel |publisher=BBC |date=20 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323110535/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26664023 |archive-date=23 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The service ended with the singing of "[[The Red Flag]]".<ref name=telegraph-20140327>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10726659/Tony-Benns-funeral-ends-with-rendition-of-The-Red-Flag.html |title=Tony Benn's funeral ends with rendition of The Red Flag |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328134723/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10726659/Tony-Benns-funeral-ends-with-rendition-of-The-Red-Flag.html |archive-date=28 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> His body was then cremated; the ashes were expected to be buried alongside those of his wife at the family home near [[Steeple, Essex]].<ref name=ec-20140327>{{cite news |url=http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Crowds-gather-funeral-Tony-Benn/story-20860483-detail/story.html |title=Tony Benn funeral: Crowds gather for Westminster send-off |first=William |last=Watkinson |work=Essex Chronicle |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413143554/http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Crowds-gather-funeral-Tony-Benn/story-20860483-detail/story.html |archive-date=13 April 2014 }}</ref>

During his final years in Parliament, Benn placed three plaques within the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]]. Two are in a room between the Central Lobby and [[Visitors' Gallery|Strangers' Gallery]] that holds a permanent display about the [[suffragette]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Suffragettes display|url=http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/exhibitions-and-events/exhibitions/suffragettes/|work=www.parliament.uk|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=12 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015074122/http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/exhibitions-and-events/exhibitions/suffragettes/|archive-date=15 October 2013}}</ref> The first was placed in 1995. The second was placed in 1996 and is dedicated to all who work within the Houses of Parliament.

The third is dedicated to [[Emily Davison|Emily Wilding Davison]], who died for the cause of [[Elections in the United Kingdom|"Votes for women"]], and was placed in the broom cupboard next to the Undercroft Chapel, where Davison is said to have hidden during the night of the [[Census in the United Kingdom|1911 census]] in order to establish her address as the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref name="NZBenn's secret tribute to suffragette martyr">{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6529773.ece|title=Benn's secret tribute to suffragette martyr|access-date=3 November 2011|work= BBC News|date=17 March 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Plaque to Emily Wilding Davison|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-study-emily-wilding-davison/ewd/tony-benn-plaque|work=www.parliament.uk|publisher=Uk Parliament|access-date=12 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222220733/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-study-emily-wilding-davison/ewd/tony-benn-plaque/|archive-date=22 February 2014}}</ref>

{{S-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for [[Bristol South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol South East]]|years=[[1950 Bristol South East by-election|1950]]–[[1961 Bristol South East by-election|1960]]}}

{{S-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Technology|Minister of Technology]]|years=1966–1970}}

{{S-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Business and Trade|Secretary of State for Industry]]|years=1974–1975}}

{{S-bef|before=[[William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate|William Wedgwood Benn]]}}

{{S-vac|disclaimed|next=[[Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate|Stephen Benn]]}}