The Rt Hon Sir Ben Bradshaw

The Rt Hon Sir Ben Bradshaw (he/him)

Ben Bradshaw is the former MP for Exeter and was a Minister in the Governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.  

Elected in 1997, he was the first openly gay person to be selected and elected to Parliament and won a bitter and high profile campaign against a deeply homophobic Conservative opponent. Ben held the former Conservative seat until he stepped down in 2024.  

Ben played a leading role in supporting the advances in LGBT rights during the 1997 to 2010 Labour Government in Parliament and Government.  

Before standing for Parliament, Ben was an award winning journalist whose jobs included BBC Berlin correspondent in the run up to and following the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

Ben has been married to his partner, Neal, since 2005.