# Phil Bennion

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.

## 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.

### 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. 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.
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.

### 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.
General election 1997: Lichfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Fabricant | 20,853 | 42.9 | N/A |
| | Labour | Susan Woodward | 20,615 | 42.4 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phil Bennion | 5,473 | 11.3 | N/A |
| | Referendum | George Seward | 1,652 | 3.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 238 | 0.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,593 | 77.5 | N/A |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |
General election 2001: Lichfield :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Fabricant | 20,480 | 49.1 | 6.2 |
| | Labour | Martin Machray | 16,054 | 38.5 | 3.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phil Bennion | 4,462 | 10.7 | 0.6 |
| | UKIP | John Phazey | 684 | 1.6 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,426 | 10.6 | 10.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,680 | 65.9 | 11.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | 5.05 | |
General election 2005: Tamworth :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Brian Jenkins | 18,801 | 43.0 | 6.0 |
| | Conservative | Christopher Pincher | 16,232 | 37.1 | 0.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phillip Bennion | 6,175 | 14.1 | 2.4 |
| | Veritas | Patrick Eston | 1,320 | 3.0 | N/A |
| | UKIP | Tom Simpson | 1,212 | 2.8 | 1.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,569 | 5.9 | 6.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,740 | 61.0 | 3.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 2.8 | |
General election 2010: Telford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | David Wright | 15,977 | 38.7 | 9.5 |
| | Conservative | Tom Biggins | 14,996 | 36.3 | 3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phillip Bennion | 6,399 | 15.5 | 1.4 |
| | UKIP | Denis Allen | 2,428 | 5.9 | 1.2 |
| | BNP | Phil Spencer | 1,513 | 3.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 981 | 2.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,313 | 63.5 | 4.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 6.3 | |
General election 2015: Birmingham Hodge Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Liam Byrne | 28,069 | 68.4 | 16.4 |
| | Conservative | Kieran Mullan | 4,707 | 11.5 | 0.2 |
| | UKIP | Albert Duffen | 4,651 | 11.3 | 9.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phil Bennion | 2,624 | 6.4 | 21.3 |
| | Green | Chris Nash | 835 | 2.0 | |
| | Communist | Andy Chaffer | 153 | 0.4 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 23,362 | 56.9 | 32.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,039 | 54.5 | 1.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 8.3 | |
General election 2017: Birmingham, Hodge Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Liam Byrne | 37,606 | 81.1 | 12.7 |
| | Conservative | Ahmereen Reza | 6,580 | 14.2 | 2.7 |
| | UKIP | Mohammed Khan | 1,016 | 2.2 | 9.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phil Bennion | 805 | 1.7 | 4.7 |
| | Green | Clare Thomas | 387 | 0.8 | 1.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 31,026 | 66.9 | 10.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,394 | 61.3 | 6.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | 5.0 | |
European Parliamentary Candidate for West Midlands (European Parliament constituency) in 1999, 2004 and 2009, being elected to No2 on the Liberal Democrats' regional list in 2009 taking his seat in 2012 after Liz Lynne stepped down. Phil was re-elected as no1 on the Liberal Democrats' regional list in 2019.

### 2019

European Election 2019: West Midlands :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Brexit Party | Rupert Lowe (1) Martin Daubney (2) Andrew England Kerr (5) Vishal Khatri, Nikki Page, Laura Kevehazi, Katharine Harborne | 507,152 (169,050.67) | 37.66 | +37.66 |
| | Labour | Neena Gill (3) Sion Simon, Julia Buckley, Ansar Khan, Zarah Sultana, Sam Hennessy, Liz Clements | 228,298 | 16.95 | −9.76 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phil Bennion (4) Ade Adeyemo, Jeanie Falconer, Jenny Wilkinson, Jennifer Gray, Beverley Nielsen, Lee Dargue | 219,982 | 16.33 | +10.77 |
| | Green | Ellie Chowns (6) Diana Toynbee, Paul Woodhead, Julian Dean, Louis Stephen, Helen Heathfield, Kefentse Dennis | 143,520 | 10.66 | +5.40 |
| | Conservative | Anthea McIntyre (7) Daniel Dalton, Suzanne Webb, Meirion Jenkins, Alex Philips, Mary Noone, Ahmed Ejaz | 135,279 | 10.04 | −14.27 |
| | UKIP | Ernest Valentine, Paul Williams, Graham Eardley, Paul Allen, Nigel Ely, Joe Smyth, Derek Bennett | 66,934 | 4.97 | −26.52 |
| | Change UK | Stephen Dorrell, Charlotte Gath, Peter Wilding, Amrik Kandola, Joanna McKenna, Victor Odusanya, Lucinda Empson | 45,673 | 3.39 | +3.39 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,355,222 | 33.1% | |
European Election 2014: West Midlands :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | UKIP | Jill Seymour, James Carver, Bill Etheridge Phil Henrick, Michael Wrench, Michael Green, Lyndon Jones | 428,010 (142,670) | 31.5 | +10.2 |
| | Labour | Neena Gill, Siôn Simon Lynda Waltho, Ansar Ali Khan, Olwen Hamer, Tony Ethapemi, Philippa Louise Roberts | 363,033 (181,517) | 26.7 | +9.7 |
| | Conservative | Philip Bradbourn, Anthea McIntyre, Daniel Dalton, Michael Burnett, Sibby Buckle, Daniel Sames, Alex Avern | 330,470 (165,235) | 24.3 | −3.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Phil Bennion, Jonathan Webber, Christine Tinker, Ayoub Khan, Tim Bearder, Neville Farmer, John Redfern | 75,648 | 5.6 | −6.4 |
| | Green | Will Duckworth, Aldo Mussi, Vicky Duckworth, Tom Harris, Karl Macnaughton, Duncan Kerr, Laura Katherine Vesty | 71,464 | 5.3 | −0.9 |
| | An Independence from Europe | Mike Nattrass, Mark Nattrass, Joshna Pattni, Carl Henry Humphries, George Viner Forrest, Douglas Stephen Ingram, Paul Alders | 27,171 | 2.0 | N/A |
| | We Demand a Referendum | Nikki Sinclaire, Andy Adris, Linda Brown, David Bennett, Judith Smart, Thomas Reid, Amanda Wilson | 23,426 | 1.7 | N/A |
| | BNP | Michael Coleman, Jennifer Matthys, Kenneth Griffiths, Simon Patten, David Bradnock, Mark Badrick, Phil Kimberley | 20,643 | 1.5 | −7.1 |
| | English Democrat | Derek Hilling, Chris Newey, Stephen Paxton, Charles Hayward, Margaret Stoll, David Lane, Fred Bishop | 12,832 | 0.9 | −1.4 |
| | NO2EU | Dave Nellist, Pat Collins, Joanne Stevenson, Sophia Hussain, Paul Edward Reilly, Andrew Mark Chaffer, Amanda Jane Marfleet | 4,653 | 0.3 | −0.7 |
| | Harmony Party | Reg Mahrra | 1,857 | 0.1 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,359,210 | 33.1 | −1.7 |
Anthea McIntyre became an MEP in November 2011 when the relevant provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon came into effect, her addition being based on the 2009 vote. Phil Bennion became an MEP on the resignation of Liz Lynne.
European Election 2009: West Midlands :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Conservative | Philip Bradbourn, Malcolm Harbour Anthea McIntyre, Michael Burnett, Mark Spelman, Daniel Dalton | 396,847 (198,423.5) | 28.1 | +0.7 |
| | UKIP | Mike Nattrass, Nikki Sinclaire Jill Seymour, Rustie Lee, Malcolm Hurst, Jonathan Oakton | 300,471 (150,235.5) | 21.3 | +3.8 |
| | Labour | Michael Cashman Neena Gill, Claire Edwards, Anthony Painter, Victoria Quinn, Mohammed Nazir | 240,201 | 17.0 | −6.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Liz Lynne Phil Bennion, Susan Juned, Colin Ross, Stephen Barber, William Powell | 170,246 | 12.0 | −1.7 |
| | BNP | Simon Darby, Alby Walker, Chris Turner, Ken Griffiths, Ellie Walker | 121,967 | 8.6 | +1.1 |
| | Green | Felicity Norman, Peter Tinsley, Chris Williams, Ian Davison, Vicky Dunn, Dave Wall | 88,244 | 6.2 | +1.1 |
| | English Democrat | David Lane, Frederick Bishop, John Lane, Graham Walker, Michael Ellis, Kim Gandy | 32,455 | 2.3 | N/A |
| | Christian | David Booth, Samuel Nelson, Abiodun Akiwumi, Yeside Oguntoye, Ade Raji, Maxine Hargreaves | 18,784 | 1.3 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | John Tyrrell, Satbir Singh Johal, Rajinder Claire, Bhagwant Singh, Surinder Pal Virdee, Shangra Singh Bhatoe | 14,724 | 1.0 | +0.4 |
| | NO2EU | David Nellist, Dyal Singh Bagri, Malcolm Gribbin, Jo Stevenson, Peter MacLaren, Andy Chaffer | 13,415 | 1.0 | N/A |
| | Jury Team (UK) | Geoffery Coady, Graham Burton, Jeremy Spencer, David Bennett, Colin Thompson | 8,721 | 0.6 | N/A |
| | Libertas | Jimmy Millard, Bridget Rose, Zigi Davenport, Andrew Bebbington, David Black, Matthew Lingard | 6,961 | 0.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,413,036 | 34.8 | −1.2 |
European Election 2004: West Midlands :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Conservative | Philip Bushill-Matthews, Philip Bradbourn, Malcolm Harbour Andrew Griffiths, Peter Butler, Michael John Burnett, Jeremy Lefroy | 392,937 (130,979) | 27.3 | −10.6 |
| | Labour | Michael Cashman, Neena Gill Sue Hayman, Anthony Paul Carroll, Claire Edwards, Mohammad Nazir, Jane Louise Heggie | 336,613 (168,306.5) | 23.4 | −4.6 |
| | UKIP | Michael Nattrass Earl of Bradford, Denis Vernon Brookes, Richard John Chamings, Christopher Rupert Kingsley, Greville James Guy Warwick, Andrew Moore | 251,366 | 17.5 | +11.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Liz Lynne Paul Calvin Tilsley, Phillip Bennion, Martin Marshall Turner, Nicola Sian Davies, Lorely Burt, Michael David Dixon | 197,479 | 13.7 | +2.4 |
| | BNP | Simon Darby, Simon Charles Smith, Martin David Roberts, Robert Purcell, Mark Andrew Payne, Michael Coleman, William Thomas Locke | 107,794 | 7.5 | +5.8 |
| | Green | Chris Lennard, Felicity Mary Norman, David Wall, Barney Smith, Thomas Christopher Hellberg, Damon Leroy Hoppe, Rebecca Roseff | 73,991 | 5.1 | −0.6 |
| | Respect | John Rees, Salma Yaqoob, Cheryl Jacqueline Naomi Garvey, Mohammad Naseem, Winifred Olive Mary Whitehouse, Anil Seera, Penelope Hicks | 34,704 | 2.4 | N/A |
| | Pensioners | Barry Hodgson | 33,501 | 2.3 | N/A |
| | Common Good | Dick Rodgers | 8,650 | 0.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,437,035 | 36.0 | +15.0 |
European Election 1999: West Midlands :
| List | List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| | Conservative | John Corrie, Philip Bushill-Matthews, Malcolm Harbour, Philip Bradbourn Richard Normington, Virginia Taylor, Mark Greenburgh, Michael Burnett | 321,719 (80,429.75) | 37.9 | N/A |
| | Labour | Simon Murphy, Michael Cashman, Neena Gill Mike Tappin, David Hallam, Phil Davis, Nuala O'Kane, Brenda Etchells | 237,671 (79,223.67) | 28.0 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Liz Lynne Paul Tilsley, Susan Juned, Phillip Bennion, Joan Walmsley, Sardul Marwa, Jamie Calder, John Cordwell | 95,769 | 11.3 | N/A |
| | UKIP | Mike Nattrass, Paul Garratt, Jonathan Oakton, Richard Charnings, Douglas Hope, Ian Crompton, Richard Adams, Clive Easton | 49,621 | 5.8 | N/A |
| | Green | Felicity Norman, Guy Woodford, Paul Baptie, Hazel Clawley, Richard Mountford, Alan Clawley, Andrew Holtham, Elly Stanton | 49,440 | 5.8 | N/A |
| | Independent Labour | Christine Oddy | 36,849 | 4.3 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Michael Hyde, Robert Wheway, Colin Hallmark, Ann Winfield, Nicholas Brown, Anthony Bourko, David Hallmark, Joyce Millington | 14,954 | 1.8 | N/A |
| | BNP | Sharron Edwards, Simon Darby, Stephen Edwards, Jeffrey Astbury, Keith Axon, Steven Batkin, Tommy Rogers, John Haycock | 14,344 | 1.7 | N/A |
| | Pro-Euro Conservative | Brendan Donnelly, Rob Coppinger, Tim Perkins, Diane Hazeldine, Andrew Notman, John Gretton, Steve Law, John Marshall | 11,144 | 1.3 | N/A |
| | Socialist Alliance | Dave Nellist, John Rothery, Lanne Hubbard, Salman Mirzo, Natasha Millward, Robert Hope, James Cessford, Peter McNally | 7,203 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Sonan Singh, Satbir Singh Johal, Judith Sambrook-Marshall, Surinder Pal Virdee, David Ayrton, Brenda Procter, Carlos Rule, Michael Atherton | 5,257 | 0.6 | N/A |
| | EDP English Freedom Party | Michael Gibbs | 3,066 | 0.4 | N/A |
| | Natural Law | Paul Davis, James Drewster, Huw Meads, Roger Gerrett, Mary Griffin, Roderic McCarthy, Brian Winstanley, Michael Twite | 1,647 | 0.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 848,684 | 21.0 | N/A |

## Footnotes

* ↑ "Phillip Bennion MEP". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
* ↑ "Lib Dem MEP Liz Lynne to stand down". BBC News. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
* ↑ EU Elections 2019, BBC1, 26 May 2019
* ↑ "9th parliamentary term | Phil BENNION | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu.
* ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
* 1 2 "UK General Election results May 1997 and June 2001". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
* ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
* ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
* ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
* ↑ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Telford". BBC News.
* ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
* ↑ "Birmingham Hodge Hill parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
* ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated and notice of poll". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
* ↑ "Birmingham Hodge Hill results". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
* ↑ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for the West Midlands| BBC News". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
* ↑ "We announce regional MEP candidates for the Euro Elections". Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rogers, Mark (24 April 2014). "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
* ↑ "Ukip's local success makes them a fourth force in British politics – Europe Decides". europedecides.eu. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "MEP candidates that ran in the West Midlands in 2014". yournextmep.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "European selection results – complete". libdemvoice.org. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "Welcome to The Green Party". greenparty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
* ↑ West Midlands candidates announced Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine We Demand a Referendum Now
* 1 2 "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "English Democrats 2014 EU Elections – 60 Candidates List (100% Coverage of England) | Kent English Democrats". steveunclesenglishdemocrats.org. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "West Midlands Region: Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
* ↑ "BBC NEWS | European Election 2009 | UK Results | West Midlands". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "2004 Election candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
* ↑ "wmcand". Archived from the original on 3 June 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
* ↑ "1999 Election candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
* ↑ "BNP: Under the Skin". BBC News.