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Ben Summerskill
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==Early life and education== Ben Summerskill's paternal grandmother (Baroness) [[Edith Summerskill, Baroness Summerskill|Edith Summerskill]] and his aunt (Dr) [[Shirley Summerskill]] were both [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament|Members of Parliament]] and government ministers. Dr Edith Summerskill, a former Chairman of the Labour Party, was an early advocate of Britain's free [[National Health Service]] and a vocal campaigner for women's equality. Shirley Summerskill helped introduce the UK's [[Sex Discrimination Act 1975|Sex Discrimination Act]], as a Home Office minister. His maternal grandfather [[Sydney Elliott]] was a newspaper editor of various papers, including the London ''[[Evening Standard]]''. In 1944, Elliott became Editorial Advisor at the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'', where he masterminded its campaign to support the Labour Party at the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]]. Ben Summerskill has a twin sister, Clare, who is a performer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.claresummerskill.co.uk |title=Clare Summerskill's website |publisher=Claresummerskill.co.uk |access-date=2013-12-04 |archive-date=8 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008010132/http://www.claresummerskill.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was educated at Cobden Road Infants School, Amherst County Primary School, [[Sevenoaks School]], where he held a scholarship, and [[Merton College, Oxford]], where he was an [[Exhibitioner]] (holder of a junior scholarship)<ref>{{cite web |last=West |first=Ed |url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2013/07/08/ben-summerskill-we-dont-think-religion-is-evil-or-wicked/ |title=Ben Summerskill: 'We don't think religion is evil or wicked' β |website=Catholicherald.co.uk |date=2013-07-08 |access-date=2016-09-10 |archive-date=15 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315052307/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2013/07/08/ben-summerskill-we-dont-think-religion-is-evil-or-wicked/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> but which he left after two years without taking a degree. He later wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'': "I still recall being struck dumb on being shown, as an undergraduate, a note from an Oxford tutor to a successful candidate's father: 'Many thanks for lunch, and the trip in the Rolls.'"<ref>{{cite news |author=Ben Summerskill |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/apr/26/publicschools.schools |title=Why would you want to go to public school? |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=26 April 2005 |access-date=27 May 2010 |location=London |archive-date=2 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402080132/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/apr/26/publicschools.schools |url-status=live }}</ref>
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