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Tony Benn Dead: 11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Former Labour MP

Tony Benn Dead: 11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Former Labour MP
Mehdi Hasan
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Tony Benn - rightly described by Labour leader Ed Miliband as an "iconic figure of our age" - has passed away, aged 88. But how much do you really know about the former Labour MP and cabinet minister? Here are 11 things you probably didn't know about the late, great Anthony Wedgwood Benn.

11 Things You May Not Have Known About Tony Benn
(01 of11)
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He met Mahatma Gandhi in London, when he was six years old
(02 of11)
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He appeared in a DVD release for Dr Who, only the second Labour politician (along with Roy Hattersley) to do so
(03 of11)
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As Minister of Technology in the sixties, he helped in the creation of Concorde
(04 of11)
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He tried to get references to his private school education removed from Who's Who
(05 of11)
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As a teenager, Ed Miliband interned in his basement office
(06 of11)
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As Postmaster General, he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower - now the BT Tower - in 1966.
(07 of11)
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He was a cousin of 'Miss Marple' - TV actress Dame Margaret Rutherford
(08 of11)
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He was the youngest MP, or 'Baby of the House', for just one day in 1950, being succeeded by a younger MP who took his oath a day later
(09 of11)
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His granddaughter Emily became the youngest-ever Labour parliamentary candidate in 2010 - but failed to get elected
(10 of11)
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The whole of his diary collection, up to 2002, constitutes around 18 million words.
(11 of11)
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Tony Benn's grandfather, John Benn. Both his grandfathers were Liberal MPs
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