Siobhan Benita

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Siobhan Benita
File:Siobhan Benita.jpg
in 2011.
Born Siobhan Pook
(1971-10-11) 11 October 1971 (age 52)
Wimbledon, London, England
Residence New Malden, Borough of Kingston, England
Nationality British
Education BA in English and German (University of Warwick); MA in Modern German (University of Warwick)
Years active Civil Servant:
1996–2012
2012 London Mayoral Election Candidate:
2012[1]
Known for Standing as an independent candidate in 2012 London mayoral election.
Spouse(s) Vincent Benita (m. 1997)[2]
Children two daughters[2]

Siobhan Benita (born 1971[1]) is an English former civil servant who was an unsuccessful independent candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election.

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Biography

Benita was born in 1971 in Wimbledon, south west London,[1] and grew up in the borough of Merton. Her Anglo-Indian mother came to London in 1959.[3] She worked as a home help and auxiliary nurse. Benita's English father moved to London after graduating from Loughborough University and was a local primary school teacher.[3]

Benita was educated in Roman Catholic state schools in Merton: Sacred Heart Primary School, St Catherine’s Middle School and the Ursuline High School. She went to University of Warwick where she gained a first class Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German and a Master's Degree in Modern German.

Career

Benita joined the Civil Service as a graduate "fast streamer" in the Department for Transport in 1996.[1]

In 2006, after 10 years as a policy adviser on transport, local government and environment issues, she moved to the Cabinet Office where she worked with the then new Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell,[4] to improve civil service governance, strategy and communications.[1] During her time in the Cabinet Office she established Civil Service Live,[5] in partnership with Civil Service World publisher Dods.[6] She worked on the Civil Service Awards and "Tabelle", a network for women who work in, or with, the public sector.[5]

In 2009 she joined the Department of Health as head of corporate management.[1] She left the department in January 2012 to stand as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election.[1]

2012 London Mayoral campaign

Benita stood as a candidate in the 2012 Mayor of London election. She came fifth with 3.8% of the vote, within 8,000 votes (0.36%) of fourth-placed Brian Paddick. She has indicated that she intends to stay in politics and hopes to run again in the 2016 London Mayor elections.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Ross, Matt"Interview: Siobhan Benita", Civil Service World interview, 27 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dominiczak, Peter"Civil servant runs for Mayor to prove that 'women can do this sort of thing'", Civil servant runs for Mayor, 29 November 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "About Siobhan Benita", Official Siobhan Benita website for the 2012 London Mayoral election, Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  4. ↑ Eden, Richard"Civil Service chief Sir Gus O’Donnell goes on the run with glamorous colleague", The Telegraph, 10 July 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Marsh, Arun"Leading Questions: Siobhan Benita, London mayoral candidate", The Guardian, 4 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ BBC News, "London election 2012: Siobhan Benita's 'massive result'"

External links

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