Background
Benita was born in 1971 in Wimbledon, south west London, and grew up in the borough of Merton.
Benita was born in 1971 in Wimbledon, south west London, and grew up in the borough of Merton.
Benita was educated in Roman Catholic state schools in Merton: Sacred Heart Primary School, Street Catherine’s Middle School and the Ursuline High School.
Her Anglo-Indian mother came to London in 1959. She worked as a home help and auxiliary nurse Benita"s English father moved to London after graduating from Loughborough University and was a local primary school teacher.
She went to Warwick University where she gained a first class Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German and a Master"s Degree in Modern German.
Benita joined the Civil Service as a graduate "fast streamer" in the Department for Transport in 1996. In 2006, after 10 years as a policy adviser on transport, local government and environment issues, she moved to the Cabinet Office where she worked with the then new Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, to improve civil service governance, strategy and communications.
During her time in the Cabinet Office she established Civil Service Live, in partnership with Civil Service World publisher Dods. She worked on the Civil Service Awards and "Tabelle", a network for women who work in, or with, the public sector.
In 2009 she joined the Department of Health as head of corporate management.
She left the department in January 2012 to stand as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. Benita stood as a candidate in the 2012 Mayor of London election. She came fifth with 3.8% of the vote, within 8,000 votes (036%) of fourth-placed Brian Paddick.
She has indicated that she intends to stay in politics and hopes to run again in the 2016 London Mayor elections.
