Brindley Horatio Benn, CCH (24 January 1923 – 11 December 2009) was a teacher, choirmaster, politician, and one of the key leaders of the Guyanese independence movement.
Some members of Benn's chorister group included the late broadcaster Matthew Allen, Senior Counsel Lloyd Joseph and Wittington Braithwaite.
One evening, during his teaching career, Benn attended a public meeting at Norton and John Streets, where he listened to Dr. Cheddi Jagan criticise the state of the bauxite industry and the colony of Guyana.
When the colonial constitution was suspended in 1953, Benn was detained and put under restriction orders in New Amsterdam, where he had gone to assess Party activity.
His wife and three children regularly commuted by train to visit him where he lived with his brother, Lancelot, who worked as a driver mechanic with PWD at Canje.
After several raids by the army and the police on his brother's home, it was decided that his wife and family would move to New Amsterdam, where they established residence at 21 St. Magdelane Street.
Upon his return to Georgetown in 1956, Benn was elected Chairman of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) and Member of the Executive Committee.
Benn was appointed Minister of Community Development and Education in 1957[2] and given an office across the road from the Parliament Building.
Brindley Benn became the most prominent Afro-Guyanese to remain with the PPP, making a statement against the divide-and-rule tactics of colonialism.
The WPVP printed a weekly mimeographed account of social, economic and political affairs occurring locally and internationally.
In the late 1970s, he joined with Walter Rodney, Eusi Kwayana, Andaiye, Moses Baghwan and Rupert Roopnaraine to form the Working People's Alliance.
Discussions were held under the umbrella organization Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) in the fight for free and fair elections in Guyana.
Benn accepted President Dr. Jagan's offer to be on the PPP's list of candidates and won a seat in Parliament.