Phil_Bennion

Phil Bennion

British politician

Phillip Bennion (born 7 October 1954) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands from 2012 to 2014, and then from 2019 to 2020.

Quick Facts Member of the European Parliament for West Midlands, Preceded by ...

Phil Bennion
Bennion in 2014

Member of the European Parliament for West Midlands
In office 2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded by	James Carver
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
In office 6 February 2012 – 2 July 2014
Preceded by	Liz Lynne
Succeeded by	James Carver

Personal details
Born	(1954-10-07) 7 October 1954 (age 69) Tamworth, Staffordshire, England
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen Newcastle University University of Birmingham
Occupation	Farmer

Early life and education

Bennion was born in Tamworth, Staffordshire and educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. He went on to study agriculture and agronomy at Aberdeen and Newcastle. After returning to Staffordshire to run his family farm, he gained a second degree, in history and economic history, from the University of Birmingham.

Political career

Bennion advised Charles Kennedy on agricultural issues during his leadership of the Liberal Democrats. Bennion went on to serve on the party's federal policy committee for eight years.^[1]

European parliament

He was second on the party list for the West Midlands constituency at the 2009 European Parliament election, but the party's 12% share of the vote entitled them to only one seat. When Liz Lynne stepped down in February 2012, electoral rules meant that Bennion, as the next Liberal Democrat candidate on the list, took her seat.^[2] He stood for re-election in 2014 and was placed top of his party's list of candidates, but he lost his seat as the Liberal Democrats polled 5.6% of the vote, too little to secure one of the West Midlands' seven seats. He re-gained his seat in 2019.^[3]

He sat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Sub-Committee on Human Rights, and also acted as a substitute on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, as a member of the 9th Parliament from July 2019 to January 2020.^[4]

Electoral history

He served as a councillor on Lichfield District Council from 1999 to 2011 and on Staffordshire County Council from 2002–2005. He was again elected to Lichfield District Council in 2023.

Bennion stood as the Parliamentary candidate for Lichfield in 1997 and 2001, for Tamworth in 2005, Telford in 2010 and Birmingham Hodge Hill in 2015 and 2017.