Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon (born 21 October 1960) is a British politician who has served as Minister of State for Biosecurity, Marine and Rural Affairs since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Newbury from 2005 to 2019.
Benyon studied at the Royal Agricultural College and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before serving in the British Army, being posted to Northern Ireland and the Far East with the Royal Green Jackets. He was elected to Newbury Council in 1991 and became Conservative group leader in 1994.
Benyon became MP for Newbury at the 2005 general election. In opposition, he served on the Home Affairs Select Committee, as an opposition whip and as a shadow minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Under David Cameron, he first served as a government minister at DEFRA from May 2010 to October 2013. He had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019 by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after voting against the government, and sat as an independent MP until he had the whip restored on 28 October 2019.
In December 2020, it was announced Benyon would have a life peerage conferred after a nomination by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Following the resignation of Lord Gardiner of Kimble in May 2021, he was again made Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Early life
Benyon was born on 21 October 1960 in Reading. He is the son of Sir William Richard Benyon, a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1992, and is the great-great grandson of former Conservative Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. He was educated at nearby Bradfield College and the Royal Agricultural College.
Military service
Having attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets, British Army, as a second lieutenant on 8 August 1981. He was promoted to lieutenant on 8 August 1983.
During his four years' service, he was posted to Northern Ireland, other parts of the UK, and the Far East. He transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers on 8 August 1984, thereby ending his military career but maintaining call-up liability.
Political career
He was elected in 1991 to Newbury District Council, and became Conservative group leader in 1994, in opposition to the then-ruling Liberal Democrats. He lost his council seat in 1995.
House of Commons
Benyon contested the Newbury constituency at the 1997 general election but lost heavily to the 1993 by-election incumbent Liberal Democrat David Rendel. Benyon and Rendel contested Newbury again at the 2001 general election, and Rendel came out again as the victor with a reduced majority. He and Rendel again contested Newbury at the 2005 UK general election and Benyon was elected with a majority of 3,460, replacing Rendel.
Benyon made his maiden speech on 20 May 2005 and served on the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2007, when he became an Opposition Whip. He was the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2009 until the 2010 general election when he entered government. He was also one of the first 15 MPs to support David Cameron's Conservative Party leadership bid.
In May 2009, he was listed by The Daily Telegraph as one of the "saints" in the expenses scandal exposed by that newspaper.
Benyon was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the first Cameron Ministry. and remained in post until a ministerial reshuffle in October 2013.
In 2012, while Wildlife Minister, Benyon refused a request from other MPs that possession of carbofuran, a deadly poison used to kill raptors that is banned in Canada and the European Union, should be made a criminal offence. Green Party MP Caroline Lucas was quoted as saying: "The minister's shocking refusal to outlaw the possession of a poison used only by rogue gamekeepers to illegally kill birds of prey would be inexplicable were it not for his own cosy links to the shooting lobby".
In December 2012, Benyon's neighbours complained when Hanson Aggregates were given permission to extract 200,000 tonnes of sand and gravel a year from woodlands on Benyon's family estate, leading it to be described as a 'bombsite'. Benyon said that the estate was controlled by a family trust.