Joe Benton
Encyclopedia
Joseph Edward Benton is a British
Labour Party
politician
who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Bootle
since 1990
.
, Lancashire
and was educated at the St Monica's
Roman Catholic
Primary School on Aintree
Road and Secondary School in Bootle and the Bootle Municipal Technical College (called the Hugh Baird College
of Further Education since 1974 when after merging with the Art College in 1968). On leaving school in 1949 he received an apprenticeship
as a fitter and turner. He entered National Service
in 1955 with the RAF
. In 1958 he joined the Pacific Steam Navigation Company as a personnel
officer, remaining in this position until 1981. In 1982 he became a personnel manager with Girobank
.
He has been a Justice of the Peace
on the Bootle Bench since 1969. He was elected to serve as a councillor on Bootle
County Borough council in 1970, moving to Sefton Borough Council
after local government reform in 1973 and serving until his election to Parliament in 1990. Benton was Leader of the Council from 1985.
died on March 21 after a long battle with cancer
; Benton was on the shortlist to follow him but lost out to Mike Carr
who won the by-election
on 24 May. Carr died on 20 July as a result of a heart attack
just 57 days after his election. Benton won the selection to fight the second by-election in Bootle. He was elected comfortably on 8 November, obtaining 78% of the vote and nearly ten times that of his nearest rival, the Conservative
James Clappison
. Following the 2001 General Election, he held the safest Labour seat in the country.
Benton was appointed as an opposition whip
by John Smith
in 1994, but was given a government post by Tony Blair
after the 1997 General Election
. He has voted to restrict the availability of abortion
, and opposes embryo
research and euthanasia
. Benton was one of fifteen Labour MPs to oppose the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill
which equalised the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Bootle
Bootle (UK Parliament constituency)
Bootle is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since 1990 the MP has been Joe Benton of the Labour Party...
since 1990
Bootle by-elections, 1990
The two Bootle by-elections were held during 1990, for the British House of Commons constituency of Bootle in Merseyside.Bootle was one of Labour's safest seats, held by the party since 1945.-May by-election:...
.
Early life
Benton was born in BootleBootle
Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, and a 'Post town' in the L postcode area. Formally known as Bootle-cum-Linacre, the town is 4 miles to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.Historically part of...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and was educated at the St Monica's
Monica of Hippo
Saint Monica is a Christian saint and the mother of Augustine of Hippo, who wrote extensively of her virtues and his life with her in his Confessions.-Life:...
Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Primary School on Aintree
Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. It lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, about north of Liverpool city centre, in North West England....
Road and Secondary School in Bootle and the Bootle Municipal Technical College (called the Hugh Baird College
Hugh Baird College
Hugh Baird College is a further education College situated in Bootle, Merseyside, England. It is the largest provider of education and training in the area and enjoys a student population of roughly 6000. Since April 1993, the College has been an independent Further Education Corporation under the...
of Further Education since 1974 when after merging with the Art College in 1968). On leaving school in 1949 he received an apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
as a fitter and turner. He entered National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in 1955 with the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. In 1958 he joined the Pacific Steam Navigation Company as a personnel
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
officer, remaining in this position until 1981. In 1982 he became a personnel manager with Girobank
Girobank
Girobank was a British public sector financial institution founded in 1968 by the General Post Office. Itstarted life as the National Giro but went through several name changes, becoming National Girobank, then Girobank Plc , before merging into Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank...
.
He has been a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
on the Bootle Bench since 1969. He was elected to serve as a councillor on Bootle
Bootle
Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, and a 'Post town' in the L postcode area. Formally known as Bootle-cum-Linacre, the town is 4 miles to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.Historically part of...
County Borough council in 1970, moving to Sefton Borough Council
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, north-western England. The council has been under no overall control since the 1980s and is run as an all party coalition of the Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, It consists of...
after local government reform in 1973 and serving until his election to Parliament in 1990. Benton was Leader of the Council from 1985.
Parliamentary career
Bootle saw the death of two young Labour MPs in 1990. Allan RobertsAllan Roberts
Allan Roberts was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1979 until his death. A teacher and social worker before his election, he was a member of the left-wing of the party.-Early life:...
died on March 21 after a long battle with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
; Benton was on the shortlist to follow him but lost out to Mike Carr
Michael Carr (Labour politician)
Michael Carr was a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Bootle for 57 days in 1990 from his election until his death. He was a dockworker who later became a trade union official, but his political rise was assisted by the help he gave the Labour Party leadership...
who won the by-election
Bootle by-elections, 1990
The two Bootle by-elections were held during 1990, for the British House of Commons constituency of Bootle in Merseyside.Bootle was one of Labour's safest seats, held by the party since 1945.-May by-election:...
on 24 May. Carr died on 20 July as a result of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
just 57 days after his election. Benton won the selection to fight the second by-election in Bootle. He was elected comfortably on 8 November, obtaining 78% of the vote and nearly ten times that of his nearest rival, the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
James Clappison
James Clappison
William James Clappison, commonly known as James Clappison, British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Hertsmere, and serves as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel group.-Personal life:The son of a Yorkshire farmer, James Clappison was...
. Following the 2001 General Election, he held the safest Labour seat in the country.
Benton was appointed as an opposition whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
by John Smith
John Smith (UK politician)
John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994...
in 1994, but was given a government post by Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
after the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. He has voted to restrict the availability of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, and opposes embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
research and euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
. Benton was one of fifteen Labour MPs to oppose the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
The Sexual Offences Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the age of consent for male homosexual sexual activities from 18 to that for heterosexual and lesbian sexual activities at 16, or 17 in Northern Ireland...
which equalised the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex.
Personal life
He married Doris Wynne in 1959 in Bootle and they have four daughters. The tip of Benton's index finger was bitten off by a dog while out campaigning on May 6 2010 in his Bootle constituency. He was hospitalized and could not vote in the General Election as a result.External links
- Profile at New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....