1304 John Benn

Constituency :  Tower  Hamlets  St  George  1892-5, Plymouth Devonport  1904-10 

John  took  Tower  Hamlets  St  George  from  the  Tories.

John  was   a  minister's  son  from   Manchester. His father  moved  to  London  a  year  after  he  was  born  and  opened  an  institute  for  homeless  boys. John  was  privately  educated  and  worked  for  a  furniture  company. In  1880  he  started  the  trade  journal,  The  Cabinet  Maker.  He  later  founded  the  family's  publishing  house.  In  1889  he  was  elected  to  the  L.C.C. as  a  Progressive  member. He  was  an  active  supporter  of  the  London  Dock  Strike  and  a  popular  campaigner  for  public  health  and  housing.

John  was  defeated  in  1895  but  continued  his  work  on  the  L.C.C. and  helped  in  bringing  electric  trams  to  London. He  was  chairman  of  the  L.C.C.  from  1903  to  1904 .  In  1904  he  returned  to  Parliament  at  a  by-election.

John's  parliamentary  contributions  were  usually  on  constituency    matters.

John  was  defeated  in  January  1910.

John  was  created  a  baronet  in  1914. He  continued  to  lead  the  Progressive  Party  until  1918  when  he  stepped  down  for  health  reasons.

He  was  still  a  councillor  on  his  death  in  1922  aged  71. His  son  William  became  an   MP  and  his  grandson  was  Tony  Benn.