London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw is a prominent British Politician. He served as a Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport from 2009 to 2010. Alongside he is a member of the Labor Party and follows a liberal political view. Since 1997 he has worked as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter. Before entering into politics he worked as a reporter for BBC radio reporter.
Early life and Bio
Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw was born on 30th August 1960. His father Peter Bradshaw was an Anglican priest. While he also worked as a canon of Norwich Cathedral. Daphne Murphy is his mother and she was a homemaker. Ben got his early education from Thorpe Grammar School. It was followed by the University of Sussex. This is where he got a degree in German. Moreover, he attended the University of Freiburg in Germany as an undergraduate student. From 1982 to 1983 he started teaching English at the Technikum. The school of technology is located in the Zurich canton of Switzerland. His brother Jonathan Bradshaw worked as a professor at the University of York. Currently, he is 62 years old.
Parliamentary Career
Ben Bradshaw was elected for the marginal parliamentary seat of Exeter. In the 1997 general election, he became the first-choice candidate of the Local Labor party. He used to get all the instructions from the Labor party headquarters. The Conservative MP, John Hannam was retired and the members chose Adrian Rogers as their candidate. Many people are already aware that he is openly gay and is a leading member of the religious right. Moreover, he undertook many campaigns to shake off the allegations of homophobia and sin.
As a result, Ben was elected as the Labour MP for Exeter. He won this position with a majority of 11,705. Therefore, he made a maiden speech at the House of Commons in 1997. He also became the second British MP when he was openly gay during that first election. In the House of Commons, Ben introduced the Pesticides Act in 1998. There he could easily gather a lot of power for the inspectors. After a few years, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State. While at this time he was working at the Department of Health John Denham in 2000.
Health Minister
In 2007 he started a campaign to become the Minister of State in the Department of Health. Additionally, he was offered with the Minister for the South West Portfolio. During all this time everything became a subject of controversy. Many patients were not able to have access to NHS dentists. They resorted to self-treatment which led to many other issues. The British Medical Association worked harder than a General Practitioner needs a substitute. This became even more evident when the qualified dentist couldn’t make things happen. Moreover, Ben was criticized for defending the car parking fees for the NHS dentists.
Personal Life
In 2006, Ben got married to Neal Dalgleish. He is a BBC producer and they have been staying together for many years now. Ben has been one of the first MPs to start a civil partnership. He asked the Church of England to support him with a same-sex partner. Many people know that he is openly gay and got some criticism for the same. In 2019, Ben was criticized for saying things against Micheal Gove at an event at the German embassy. When the recording was revealed he was found to be the real culprit. In the middle of 2022, Ben announced he will not become a part of the next general elections.
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Net Worth & Other Activities
Ben Bradshaw is a popular and influential politician. His total net worth is estimated to be $5 million. Moreover, he leads a lavish lifestyle. In 2010, he failed to choose members of the First Shadow cabinet. During this time he voted for the NATO-led military choice for intervention in Libya. He also voted in the favor of same-sex marriages. In 2009 Ben Bradshaw won the Stonewall Politician of the Year Award.
He worked hard to support lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. Many members of the LBGT party supported him fully and gave him a 100% score. After this huge success, he started working as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. It gave him a right to honor people according to his ideas and thoughts. Ben became a member of the Henry Jackson Society Advisory Council in 2009.