Alan Thomas Amos (born 10 November 1952) is a British politician who sat as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

from 1987 to 1992. After a spell in the Labour Party, he was elected as a Conservative member of Worcester City Council and of

Worcestershire County Council Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. Its headquarters are at County Hall in Worcester, the county town. The council consists of 57 councillors and there is no over ...

, but left the party to sit as an independent. He was re-elected as a member of

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

Early life

He attended the independent St Albans School. He studied PPE at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

. From the

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

, he gained a PGCE in 1976. From 1976 to 1984, he was an Economics teacher, and a sixth form form-teacher, at Dame Alice Owen's School in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. From 1986 to 1987, he was Assistant Principal of Davies's College of Further Education on Old Gloucester Street,

Queen Square, London Queen Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Many of its buildings are associated with medicine, particularly neurology. Construction Queen Square was originally constructed between 1716 and 1725. It was forme ...

, From 1978 to 1987 he was a Conservative Party councillor on Enfield Borough Council. At the 1983 general election, he stood unsuccessfully in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

as a Conservative candidate.

Parliamentary career

Amos was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for

in the 1987 general election. In Parliament, Amos was known for his right wing views, e.g., he believed rapists and muggers should be flogged. He was opposed to

tobacco advertising Nicotine marketing is the marketing of nicotine-containing products or use. Traditionally, the tobacco industry markets cigarette smoking, but it is increasingly marketing other products, such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco pr ...

. Shortly before the 1992 general election, Amos was arrested, along with another man, at a well known homosexual pickup spot on

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling ...

. Amos was not charged but accepted a police caution for indecency, and stood down as MP for Hexham.

Conversion to Labour

After failing to be readopted as a Conservative local councillor in the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in Greater London, England. The main communities in the borough are Edmonton, London, Edmonton, Enfield, London, Enfield, Southgate, London, Southgate and Palmers Green. Enfi ...

, where he had previously been deputy leader of the council, he joined the Labour Party in 1994, giving a self- exculpatory interview to ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' magazine. In the 2001 general election he fought the Hitchin and Harpenden constituency for Labour, coming second to the Conservative Peter Lilley. He was elected for Labour to the Millwall ward of the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

in 2002, serving as councillor for four years before losing the seat to the Conservatives in the 2006 election. He returned to local politics in May 2008 with his election to the Warndon ward of Worcester City Council. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

he was also elected to

Independent councillor

Following the May 2014 local government elections, the composition of Worcester City Council was 17 Conservative, 16 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat and 1 Green, making both major groups reliant on minority support to gain control of the council. Before the Council AGM, Alan Amos announced he was leaving the Labour group to sit as an Independent councillor, allegedly from dissatisfaction that he had not been selected by Labour as a future

Mayor of Worcester The Mayor of Worcester is the civic head of Worcester City Council. Every May one of the city Councillors is elected to serve as Mayor for a year. Another is elected as Deputy Mayor. The Mayor chairs meetings of the Full Council, represents the c ...

. At the council's AGM on 3 June 2014, Amos accepted the Conservative nomination as Mayor of Worcester, and as Mayor, voted for the Council administration to change from Labour to Conservative.

Move back to the Conservatives

Following the 2015 Worcester City Council election and hours before his tenure as Mayor of Worcester was to end, Amos announced he was rejoining the Conservative party. In the 2024 Worcester City Council election he was re-elected and was the sole Conservative on the city council. In 2025, then sat as an Independent on the city council and on Worcestershire County Council. In the 2025 Worcestershire County Council election, he was a candidate for

. He was re-elected under his new banner with 1,182 votes (41.47% of those cast). In doing so, he beat fellow former Conservative MP and Cabinet Minister

Stephen Dorrell Stephen James Dorrell (born 25 March 1952) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015. Dorrell most recen ...

who was standing for the Liberal Democrats.

Controversies

In 2016 Amos claimed women make up rape. He is known for his right-wing views on immigration, when in 2019, 23 child asylum seekers were resettled in Worcestershire. He has also made derogatory remarks about cyclists when he called cyclists "morons and dangerous" as well as describing courier riders as " Deliveroo Idiots". In 2021, Amos suggested the Worcester's "woke" theatres could lose funding after axing a "comedians' show". The comedian in question was Andrew Lawrence, and his appearance was cancelled following offensive social media posts about the England national football team's black players during Euro 2020 In 2024 Amos, as a conservative Councilor, said it was "discriminatory" for a Green Mayor of Worcester City Council to serve plant-based food at civic functions.

References

External links

*
Worcester City Council

They Work For You
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amos, Alan 1952 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Enfield Councillors in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Members of Worcestershire County Council Labour Party (UK) councillors UK MPs 1987–1992 People from St Albans Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association Alumni of the UCL Institute of Education People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire English LGBTQ politicians LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates 21st-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English LGBTQ people