William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate
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Air Commodore The Right Honourable The Viscount Stansgate DSO DFC PC |
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|---|---|
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| Secretary of State for India | |
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In office 7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931 |
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| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay Macdonald |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Peel |
| Succeeded by | Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt |
| Secretary of State for Air | |
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In office 3 August 1945 – 4 October 1946 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Harold Macmillan |
| Succeeded by | Philip Noel-Baker |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
10 May 1877 Hackney, London |
| Died | 17 November 1960 (aged 83) Westminster, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party |
Liberal Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Holmes |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | University College, London |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
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| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy British Army Royal Air Force
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| Years of service | 1914–1918, 1940–1945 |
| Rank | Air Commodore |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
DSO (1917) DFC (1918) Bronze Medal of Military Valor (Italy; 1918) |
First World War
Second World War
Air Commodore William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, DSO, DFC, PC (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 1931 and Secretary of State for Air between 1945 and 1946. He was the father of Tony Benn and the grandfather of Hilary Benn.
Born in Hackney, Benn was the second son of Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet. He was given the name Wedgwood because his mother, Elizabeth (Lily) Pickstone, was distantly linked to Josiah Wedgwood of the pottery family. Benn was educated at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris and at University College, London.
In 1906 Benn was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the St George's division of Tower Hamlets in east London, a seat he held until 1918. He served under H. H. Asquith as a Lord of the Treasury (government whip) between 1910 and 1915. In 1918 he was elected for Leith in Scotland. During the 1924–29 parliament, which was dominated by a Conservative majority, he worked closely with a group of radical Liberal MPs that included Frank Briant, Percy Harris, Joseph Kenworthy and Horace Crawfurd to provide opposition to the government. He sat until March 1927, when he resigned from the Liberal Party and from Parliament. In 1928 Benn re-entered Parliament as Labour member for Aberdeen North. MacDonald recognised his talent offering the possibility of promotion. He was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 1931 in Ramsay MacDonald's second government and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1929. However, he refused to follow MacDonald into the National Government coalition with the Conservatives, and at the 1931 election he lost his seat to John George Burnett. He returned to parliament in 1937 when he was elected for Gorton near Manchester.
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