Emily Benn, granddaughter of Tony and niece of Hilary, has been selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate despite being two weeks shy of her 18th birthday.

Should Gordon Brown call an election tomorrow, the latest Benn will be old enough to contest East Worthing and Shoreham – just.

“You have to be 18 when nominations close and that’s ten days before the polling date,” she said yesterday. To those who say that she is too young to be an MP she says that passion matters as much as experience.

She says that her grandfather is “thrilled” at the news and has already been helping her to plan her campaign to overturn a 8,813 Tory majority.

Asked for her views, she borrows a line from her uncle, the Environment Secretary: “I am a Benn not a Bennite.”

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