Richard Benyon

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Richard Benyon
MP
Richard Benyon Official.jpg
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Natural Environment and Fisheries
In office
6 June 2010 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Succeeded by George Eustice
Member of Parliament
for Newbury
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded by David Rendel
Majority 26,368 (46.0%)
Personal details
Born (1960-10-21) 21 October 1960 (age 63)[1]
Reading, Berkshire, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Emma Villiers, (Div)
Zoe Robinson
Children First marriage: 3 sons
Current marriage: 2 sons
Residence Englefield House
Alma mater Royal Agricultural College
Signature
Website richardbenyon.com
parliament..richard-benyon
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  British Army
Years of service 1981–85
Rank Lieutenant
Unit Royal Green Jackets

Richard Henry Ronald Benyon[2] (born 21 October 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newbury since 2005 and was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from May 2010 to October 2013. He is the richest MP of the House of Commons, with an estimated wealth of £110 million.

Early life

Benyon was born on 21 October 1960 in Reading.[1] He is the son of Sir William Benyon, a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1992,[3] and is the great-great grandson of former Conservative Prime Minister Lord Salisbury.[4] He was educated at nearby Bradfield College and the Royal Agricultural College.

Military service

Having attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets, British Army, as a second lieutenant on 8 August 1981.[5] He was promoted to lieutenant on 8 August 1983.[6] During his four years service, he was posted to Northern Ireland, the UK and the Far East.[7] He transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers on 8 August 1984, thereby ending his military career but maintaining call-up liability.[8]

Political career

He was elected in 1991 to Newbury District Council, and became Conservative group leader in 1994, in opposition to the then-ruling Liberal Democrats. He lost his council seat in 1995. He contested Newbury at the 1997 General Election but lost heavily to the 1993 by-election incumbent Liberal Democrat David Rendel. Benyon and Rendel contested Newbury again at the 2001 General Election, and Rendel came out again as the victor with a reduced majority. It proved third time lucky for Benyon, when he and Rendel again contested Newbury at the 2005 UK general election and Benyon was elected with a majority of 3,460, replacing Rendel.

Benyon made his maiden speech on 20 May 2005 and served on the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2007, when he became an Opposition Whip. He was the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2009 until the 2010 general election when he entered government. He was also one of the first 15 MPs to support David Cameron's Conservative Party leadership bid.

In May 2009, he was listed by The Telegraph as one of the "saints" in the expenses scandal.[9]

He was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the first Cameron Ministry.[10] and remained in post until the junior and middle ranking Cameron reshuffle of October 2013.[11][12]

Controversies

In 2012 while Wildlife Minister he refused a request from other MPs that possession of carbofuran, a deadly poison used to kill raptors that is banned in Canada and the European Union, should be made a criminal offence.[13] Green Party MP Caroline Lucas was quoted as saying: "The minister's shocking refusal to outlaw the possession of a poison used only by rogue gamekeepers to illegally kill birds of prey would be inexplicable were it not for his own cosy links to the shooting lobby."[13]

Also in 2012, Benyon's neighbours complained when Hanson Aggregates were given permission to extract 200,000 tonnes of sand and gravel a year from woodlands on Benyon's family estate, leading it to be described as a bombsite.[14] Benyon said that the estate was controlled by a family trust.[14]

In 2013 Benyon succeeded in preventing any cuts in fishing quotas. He claimed that if British fishermen had their quotas cut they would dump even more fish overboard, and the more fish they are allowed to catch, the better it will be for “the health of our seas”. Back in 2004, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution proposed that 30% of the United Kingdom’s waters should become reserves preventing fishing or any other kind of extraction.[15]

Also in 2013 Benyon's policy relating to access to rivers and his role as an owner of fishing rights was criticised. Writing in The Guardian, George Monbiot wrote that he "repeatedly wields his power in ways that promote his own interests" and being "so enmeshed in potential conflicts of interest that were he to recuse himself from all the issues in which he has a personal stake, he would have nothing to do but order the departmental paperclips".[16]

In 2014, Benyon's family firm was part of a property consortium that purchased New Era estate, one of the last affordable housing estates for working-class Londoners. The consortium increased the rents and announced plans to increase them further to match the rest of the market, effectively displacing its current residents.[17] Following negative publicity and protests by the tenants, Benyon Estate announced that it would sell its stake in the consortium back to the landlord, Westbrook Partners, a New York–based property investment company.[18][19]

Personal life

He married his first wife, Emma Helen Villiers in 1988, and they had three children before divorcing in 2003. He presently lives in the family estate of Englefield House, with his second wife Zoe (née Robinson) and their two sons.[20]

Benyon is a director of the family controlled Englefield Charitable Trust. He is one of nine Vice-Presidents of Berkshire County Scout Council. His personal wealth is estimated at £110m, making him the richest MP in the House of Commons.[21]

Ancestry

Family of Richard Benyon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Sir Frederic Shelley, 8th Baronet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Sir John Shelley, 9th Baronet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Charlotte Martha Hippisley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Vice-Admiral Richard Shelley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Richard Fellowes Benyon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Marion Emma Benyon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Elizabeth Mary Clutterbuck
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Sir William Richard Benyon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10.Lord William Cecil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Georgina Alderson, Marchioness of Salisbury
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Eve Alice Gascoyne-Cecil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Earl of Lathom
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Lady Florence Mary Bootle-Wilbraham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Lady Alice Villiers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Richard Benyon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Brigadier-General Robert Dampier Hallifax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Rear-Admiral John Salway Hallifax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Harriett Thomson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Vice-Admiral Ronald Hallifax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Major-General Thomas de Courcy Hamilton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Charlotte Anne Hamilton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Mary Anne Louisa Baynes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Elizabeth Ann Hallifax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Sir Alfred Hughes, 9th Baronet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Sir Robert Heywood Hughes, 12th Baronet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Maria Smith
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Joanne Mary Hughes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Charles Binny Skinner
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Edith Agnes Skinner
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Frances Mary Andrews
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

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  5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48770. pp. 13269–13270. 19 October 1981. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  6. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49455. p. 11159. 22 August 1983. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
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  8. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49844. p. 11401. 20 August 1984. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
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  13. 13.0 13.1 Michael McCarthy, "Fury at minister Richard Benyon's 'astounding' refusal to ban deadly bird poison", independent.co.uk, 20 October 2012. Accessed 20 October 2012.
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External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newbury
2005–present
Incumbent