William Bennington

William George Bennington was born on 23rd July 1936 to Captain Bernard Bennington and grocer Alison (nee Davis), in Dover. He saw very little of his father in his early years due to the Second World War, and instead was constantly doted on by his uncle, who worked as a reporter for the Telegraph. His right leaning political views seemed to rub off on Bennington, who joined the Conservative party in 1951.

A social conservative and admirer of Margaret Thatcher, Bennington was always going to become something of a rebel when John Major took over in 1990. Bennington was one of the Maastricht rebels, and has spoken often in parliament of his contempt not only for socialism, but for the European Union and what he sees as an “erosion of Britain’s moral compass”.

Personal life
Bennington grew up in Dover, and attended Dover Grammar school, and later Cambridge university. Excelling at history and literature, Bennington recieved a fearsome reputation as one of the Grammar schools most promising intellectuals. He was part of the Canterbury and East Kent boys debating team, and grew up passionately speaking about topics such as sociology and theology.

Bennington is a devout Anglican, and has attended church regularly on Sundays since 1939. He has two children, Matthew (b. 1965) and Adam (b. 1974) with his wife Dawn, whom he has been married to since 1963.

Early political career
Following his degree in history from Cambridge University in 1955, Bennington’s uncle tragically passed away. Stricken with sorrow, Bennington abandoned his promising political career and started his own accountancy firm in Huntingdon. Despite early success, Bennington was repeatedly spurred on by friends to enter into politics, and he was elected to serve on Canterbury City council in 1962 on a Conservative ticket. He stayed on as councillor until 1974, when he was selected by Canterbury’s local Conservative club to run as an MP.

He contested Gravesend in the second election of 1974, losing by a slight margin to Labour incumbent John Ovenden. Resolute, Bennington awaited his chance, working his way up the political ladder and meeting influential ministers on the way. Then, in 1979, Bennington’s break came when he was catapulted into the safe Conservative seat of Canterbury in the ’79 election.

Cabinet
Bennington stayed on the backbenches for fifteen years, before being chosen for a cabinet spot by Prime Minister Halifax in 1994, filling the role of secretary of state for education. He proceeded to launch a review of the schooling system in Great Britain, and has passed through a number of reforms to the education system since he took up his cabinet role.

Unlike his Conservative predecessors, Bennington has seeked to build a good relationship with teaching unions, and has held meetings with both the NAHT and NASWUT on his education reform proposals, as well as ensuring the avoidance of strike action threatened by NASWUT over an incident in mid 1994.