Tony Benn

Benn's children have been active in politics - his first son Stephen was an elected Member of the Inner London Education Authority and his second son Hilary was a councilor in London, and a Labor MP for Leeds Central.

Benn died at his home, surrounded by family, on 14 March 2014. He was 88 years old at the time of his death.

Tony Benn was born on April 3, 1925 in London to William Wedgwood Benn who was the first Viscount of Stansgate. His father was a Liberal member of the Parliament but joined the Labor Party later. Benn was exposed to politics and its nuances since a very young age.

Benn studied at Westminster School and later pursued his education from the New College, Oxford. Even at Oxford, politics was again a matter of great interest for him and he was the elected president of the Oxford Union.

In 1943, Benn took a break from studies and joined the Royal Air Force while his father and brother Michael were already serving in the RAF during World War II. He was a pilot officer and served in South Africa and Rhodesia.

In 1950, Ben was selected as the Labor candidate for Bristol South East and won the election and became a Member of Parliament for South Gloucestershire. He took the oath a month later and became the youngest MP.

Ben successfully renounced his inherited peerage in 1963 - right after the Peerage Act was passed. He then accepted the office of Stewardship of the Manor of Northstead, and left the House by disqualifying himself.

In the 1964, Benn became the Postmaster General under the government of Harold Wilson. He supervised the opening of the Post Office Tower and the conception of the Post Bus service and Girobank.

He became the Minister of Technology in 1966 and took great interest in the ongoing industrial rationalization of that time. He also saw through the merging of various car companies to build British Leyland.

Benn became the Secretary of State for Industry in 1974 under the Labor Government and during his secretarial services he helped in the formation of the Health and Safety at Work Act and promoted the set up of worker cooperatives.

Benn proposed to his wife just after 9 days of meeting 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.

Benn was a first cousin of the late actress Dame Margaret Rutherford.