Anthony Wedgwood Benn, (2nd Viscount Stansgate)

Tony Benn 1925-2014 I grew up with Tony Benn; or rather he was a prominent, often influential figure, in British politics in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. On the left wing of the Labor Party, he was constant in reminding political leaders of matters of fairness and principle, a constant supporter of the poor, the powerless, the downtrodden, the disenfranchised. His idealism, often at odds with the reality of power and politics, was both refreshing and disheartening. A man of integrity he once said “I would be ashamed if I ever said anything I didn’t believe in, to get on personally”. One of the last of a nearly extinct class of politician, the idealist: “We are not just here to manage capitalism but to change society and to define its finer values”. (On a personal note, I was surprised to see he was several years younger than my parents; I'd always thought he was older).