Show 243 - Siobhan Benita
Matt Forde's Political Party
The Political Party
4.7 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2021
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Siobhan has done it all. As a senior civil servant she advised both the new Labour and coalition governments before leaving to stand for office herself. In 2012 she ran for London Mayor as an independent and finished just behind the Lib Dems. It was an incredible achievement and underlined her appeal as a charismatic and impressive politician. In this fascinating interview she describes the elation and frustration of that campaign and the way independent candidates are locked out of key parts of the process. Siobhan was going to stand for the mayoralty again in 2021 and was the Lib Dem candidate until she stood down and eventually left the party. She explains how she came to that decision and why she and so many others still feel so frustrated with the state of British politics.
Follow Siobhan on Twitter: @SiobhanBenita
Buy tickets to The Political Party, live at The Duchess Theatre including the opening night with Andy Burnham on Monday 27 September here: https://www.nimaxtheatres.com/shows/the-political-party-with-matt-forde/
Email the show: politicalpartypodcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the political party. Today's guest is Shavon Benita, who ran for the |
| 0:13.3 | London Mayoralty twice, sort of. I'll explain what I mean in just a tick before that. |
| 0:19.6 | I've had so many emails about the last episode with Row Yucobi, which was deeply emotional. |
| 0:25.6 | So thank you for all your wonderful feedback. I've seen people tweeting Row as well. So I'm sure he's delighted |
| 0:32.0 | that people have enjoyed that really emotional story so much. And if anyone out there can give |
| 0:39.5 | him a publishing deal, do get in touch with him. Of course you can get in touch with this show, |
| 0:42.8 | politicalpartypodcast.gmail.com, with your stories of strange embarrassing or even tedious encounters |
| 0:50.5 | with politicians. Anthony Fry has been in touch. He says, I was traveling back from the |
| 0:54.9 | West Country by train and took advantage of the £3 discount to upgrade to first class. |
| 1:00.6 | Anthony, when was it? I mean, first thing I'm guessing it was a weekend. And secondly, I'm |
| 1:04.8 | guessing it was about 50 years ago. Anyway, he says, as I entered the cabin and set up myself in |
| 1:09.9 | to the plush seating, drinking my complimentary cup of tea, I heard a voice. I thought I recognized. |
| 1:16.3 | I stood up to connect the voice with the person talking. Sure enough, it was Anne Widdickham. |
| 1:23.9 | Wow, I thought Eavesdropping might provide me with some juicy put down akin to her something |
| 1:28.4 | of the night comment. What I didn't expect to hear was her talking to her assistant in quite |
| 1:33.3 | strident tones, asking why her appearance fee was so low. I guess this must have been around the |
| 1:38.4 | time for her appearance on Strictly. She caught up in that long ago Tony, a £3 upgrade to first class |
| 1:44.0 | within the last 20 years. What an incredible deal. And of course, you got to see Anne Widdickham. |
| 1:49.5 | So if you can beat Tony's story, email the show politicalpartypodcast at gmail.com. |
| 1:54.4 | Don't forget the political party is returning to the stage. It's natural home where it belongs |
| 1:59.5 | and at a new home at the Duchess Theatre in the West End of London, which I'm very excited about. |
| 2:04.9 | And the opening night on Monday the 27th of September has a very special guest. And as its |
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