The Right Honourable The Lord Allan of Hallam |
|
---|---|
Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 22 July 2010 |
|
Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam |
|
In office 2 May 1997 – 11 April 2005 |
|
Preceded by | Irvine Patnick |
Succeeded by | Nick Clegg |
Personal details | |
Born |
Sheffield |
11 February 1966
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Spouse(s) | Louise Netley |
Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge, University of the West of England |
Richard Beecroft Allan, Baron Allan of Hallam (born 11 February 1966) is a British politician and life peer. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam from the general election of Thursday 1 May 1997 until the dissolution of Parliament on 11 April 2005.
He was made a life peer in the 2010 Dissolution Honours.
Allan was born in Sheffield. He went to the independent Oundle School in north-east Northamptonshire. He studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and gained a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology in 1988. From Bristol Polytechnic, he gained an MSc in Information Technology in 1990. He was a field archaeologist in Britain, France and the Netherlands in 1984-5, and in Ecuador in 1988-9. He was a computer manager at Avon FHSA in 1991-7.
In 1997, he unseated Irvine Patnick of the Conservative Party achieving a majority of 8,221 with a swing of 15.3%. He was only the second non-Conservative to win Sheffield Hallam, and the first since 1918. In 2001, he was re-elected with an increased majority of 9,347. During his tenure, Allan held various committee seats, including the Chair of the House of Commons Information Select Committee and a seat on the House of Commons Liaison Select Committee. Richard Allan was the founding chairman of the Parthenon 2004 campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.
Allan did not seek reelection at the 2005 general election. He was succeeded by future Lib Dem leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, for whom he acted as campaign manager.