Editing Tony Benn (section)

===Member of Parliament, 1950–1960===
Following the Second World War, Benn worked briefly as a [[BBC Radio]] producer. On 1 November 1950, he was selected to succeed [[Stafford Cripps]] as the Labour candidate for [[Bristol South East]], after Cripps stood down because of ill-health. He won the seat in [[1950 Bristol South East by-election|a by-election on 30 November 1950]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/366619.stm|title=The Benn dynasty|date=11 June 1999|work=BBC News|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014000622/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/366619.stm|archive-date=14 October 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Anthony Crosland]] helped him get the seat as he was the MP for nearby [[South Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Gloucestershire]] at the time. Upon taking the oath on 4 December 1950<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1950/dec/04/new-members-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501204_HOC_256|title=New Members Sworn|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=4 December 1950|publisher=House of Commons|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716140514/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1950/dec/04/new-members-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501204_HOC_256|archive-date=16 July 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Benn became "[[Baby of the House]]", the youngest MP, for one day, being succeeded by [[Thomas Teevan (Unionist politician)|Thomas Teevan]], who was two years younger but took his oath a day later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1950/dec/05/new-member-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501205_HOC_264|title=New Members Sworn|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=5 December 1950|publisher=House of Commons|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017213221/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1950/dec/05/new-member-sworn#S5CV0482P0_19501205_HOC_264|archive-date=17 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> He became the "Baby" again in 1951, when Teevan was not re-elected. In the 1950s, Benn held middle-of-the-road or soft left views, and was not associated with the young left wing group around [[Aneurin Bevan]].<ref name=BBCBRistolprofile>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/04/03/tony_benn_profile_feature.shtml|title=Profile: Tony Benn|work=BBC Bristol|date=4 April 2008|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220151008/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/04/03/tony_benn_profile_feature.shtml|archive-date=20 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

As MP for Bristol South East, Benn helped organise the 1963 [[Bristol Bus Boycott]]<ref>{{cite news|title=How we organised to break racism on Bristol buses|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/34583/|access-date=4 May 2016|work=[[Socialist Worker]]|issue=2374|publisher=[[Socialist Workers Party (UK)|Socialist Workers Party]]|date=8 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220071333/https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/34583/|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> against the [[colour bar]] of the [[Bristol Omnibus Company]] against employing black and Asian drivers. Benn said that he would "stay off the buses, even if I have to find a bike", and Labour leader [[Harold Wilson]] also told an anti-apartheid rally in London he was "glad that so many Bristolians are supporting the [boycott] campaign", adding that he "wish[ed] them every success".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=Jon|title=What was behind the Bristol bus boycott?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23795655|access-date=4 May 2016|work=[[BBC News Magazine]]|date=27 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911105036/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23795655|archive-date=11 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>