Cabinet profile: Richard Henry Ronald Benyon MP

Conservative, Newbury

Personal details

Date of birth: 21 October 1960

Marital status: Married (Zoe)

Children: 3 sons

Education

School education: Bradfield College

Higher education: Royal Agriculture College, Cirencester

Profile

Richard Benyon finally took the Newbury seat for the Conservative party at the third time of asking.

He is scion of the Cecil family and the nephew of Bill Benyon, the formidable former MP for Buckingham and then Milton Keynes.

Following a career in the army, which included active service, Richard Benyon qualified as a chartered surveyor. Shortly after establishing a rural practice, he took over the management of the family farm, indulging his passion for the countryside. He is actively involved with the Country Land and Business Association.

A former leader of the Conservatives on Newbury District Council, Richard Benyon has also been active in the voluntary sector in and around his constituency. He has worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau, The Mary Hare School for the Deaf and a local rural education charity.

In 2005, he accompanied then shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram on a visit to Zimbabwe during the country’s elections. He was an early supporter of David Cameron's bid for the Conservative party leadership.

• July 2007 - Appointed a party whip in David Cameron's reshuffle.

• July 2006 - Asks the home secretary when an internal investigation into the 'sex for asylum' scandal will be published.

• July 2006 - Tells Tony Blair that he would have full Tory backing for a new nuclear deterrent.

• August 2005 - Revealed in an interview that he changed his surname at the age of four, his favourite track is Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, that his hero is Abraham Lincoln and that a good night out consists of a curry.

• July 2005 - Appointed to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

• May 2005 - Elected as MP for Newbury with a majority of 3,460.

Office

House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Office telephone: 0207 219 8319

Office fax: 0207 219 4509

Email: mp@richardbenyon.com

Website: http://www.richardbenyon.com

Constituency

6 Cheap Street, Newbury, RG14 5DD

Constituency telephone: 01635 551070

Constituency fax: 01635 551070

Researcher/assistant

Assistant name: Charlotte Jenner

Assistant email: jennerc@parliament.uk

2005 results

Benyon, Richard (Conservative) 26771 (48.97%)

Rendel, David (Liberal Democrat) 23311 (42.64%)

Van Nooijen, Oscar Richard (Labour) 3239 (5.92%)

McMahon, David (UK Independence Party) 857 (1.57%)

Cornish, Nicholas (Independent) 409 (0.75%)

Singleton, Barry (Independent) 86 (0.16%)

Majority 3460

Constituency profile

The constituency of Newbury is the largest in Berkshire, positioned at the western end of the county to the south of the M4 motorway. A heavily middle-class constituency, over a third of Newbury's population work in a managerial or technical capacity. Owner occupancy is above the national average and some 46% of households possess two or more cars (26th highest in the UK). In a seat almost totally lacking housing owned by the local council, some 14.5% of the housing stock is managed by housing associations – the 21st highest in the UK. The Berkshire economy has been bolstered by the growth of a number of hi-tech electronic and computer companies, and in Newbury itself the local economy is now dominated by Vodafone, whose head office is based here. Outside the town of Newbury, the constituency is home to a number of attractive villages and small towns including Lambourne, famous for its racing stables, and Hungerford, the scene of a mass murder committed by Michael Ryan in the late 1980s. Amongst its notable features, this constituency includes the Newbury Race Course, the former Cruise missile airbase at Greenham Common, and the newly built Newbury by-pass, the scene of some of the most bitter high-profile ecological protests of the mid 1990s. The Liberal Democrats came close to winning this seat in 1974, and in 1993 David Rendel won this seat for the party in a by-election. In 2005, the seat was won back by the Conservatives.

Electoral history

Postcode prefixes in constituency: RG18, RG14, RG19, RG20, OX12, RG17, SN8, RG26, RG7, RG8,

2001 constituency electoral profile: D Rendel (LD): 24,507 (48.24%) R Benyon (Con): 22,092 (43.48%) S Billcliffe (Lab): 3,523 (6.93%)

2001 turnout: 67.30%

2001 swing: 5.16% Lib Dem to Conservative

Majority election result 2001: 2,415 Liberal Democrat

1997 constituency electoral profile: David Rendell (LD) - 29,887 (52.9%) R Benyon (C) - 21,370 (37.8%) P Hannon (Lab) - 3,107 (5.5%)

Majority election result 2005: 3460, Conservative

Majority election result 1997: 8,517, Liberal Democrat

2005 swing: 5.5% from Liberal Democrat to Conservative

Memberships

Memberships of bill committees: Planning Bill Committee

All-party group memberships: All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock; All-Party Parliamentary Group for Motor Neurone Disease Zimbabwe

Memberships of public and political bodies: President, Newbury and District Agricultural Society

Current non-parliamentary employment: Farm business owner, 1991 to present; property management 1991 to present

Political background

Memberships of bill committees: Sustainable Communities Bill Committee, 28 February - 23 May 2007

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Committee, 15-27 March 2007

Past select committee memberships: Home Affairs Select Committee, July 2005 - October 2007

Past memberships of public and political bodies: Councillor, West Berkshire District Council, 1991 - 1995 (Conservative group leader, 1994 - 1995; Chair, Rural Action Group); President, Newbury and District Agricultural Society 2002

Electoral history

Unsuccessfully contested Newbury at the 2001 and 1997 general elections.

Employment

Past employment: Officer, Royal Green Jackets, 1980-85; Probationary Surveyor, 1987-89; Chartered Surveyor, 1989-91