Allan Ralph Rogers (24 October 1932 – 28 November 2023) was a British Labour Party politician. He was

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for South East Wales from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, and Member of Parliament (MP) for

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

in Wales from

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

until he stepped down at the 2001 general election.

Background

Rogers was born in Gelligaer in 1932, the youngest of twelve children. He had a scholarship to Selwyn College, Cambridge, but was unable to take it up when his national service deferment papers were 'mislaid'. He performed his national service with the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

, and studied geology at

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

. He subsequently worked as a geologist in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia, before becoming a teacher. After a successful career as a geologist, he found himself as an educator, first at secondary level and then in adult education. Later, alongside fellow WEA tutor organiser, Neil Kinnock, he introduced adult education classes for the workers at Switchgear. He also introduced art classes in mental health facilities. During his time as an MP, he also taught at the

University of Glamorgan The University of Glamorgan () was a public university based in South Wales, that merged with University of Wales, Newport to form the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with ...

Politics

Rogers was elected to the Gelligaer District Council in 1965, and then to the

Glamorgan County Council Glamorgan County Council was established in 1889 together with the administrative county of Glamorganshire under the Local Government Act 1888. The first elections to the council were held in January 1889. The council was abolished under the Loca ...

in 1970, which was replaced in part by the

Mid Glamorgan County Council Mid Glamorgan County Council () was the upper-tier authority for the Welsh county of Mid Glamorgan between its creation in 1974 and its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and Wales was reorganised in 1974 under the Local Gove ...

in 1974. In 1979, he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. He was one of the Vice Presidents of the European Parliament from July 1979 to January 1982.

Parliamentary career

Rogers was elected the Member of Parliament for

in 1983. During his time as an MP, he served on the Welsh Affairs Committee,

Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

and the

European Scrutiny Committee The European Scrutiny Committee was a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the British House of Commons, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in January ...

. He was also opposition defence spokesman, foreign affairs spokesman, and a member of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee. During the

1997 Welsh devolution referendum The 1997 Welsh devolution referendum was a pre-legislative referendum held in Wales on 18 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of a National Assembly for Wales, and therefore a degree of self-government. The referendu ...

, he strongly sided with the "No" campaign. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that in the 1997 election he was being offered a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

, in a similar fashion to fellow Welsh Labour MP Ray Powell, in return for a younger candidate taking his seat, as it is one of Labour's safest, an offer which he allegedly rejected.

Personal life and death

In 1955, Rogers married Ceridwen James; they had four children and were married until her death in 2022. After retiring from Parliament, he continued to work for the British Geological Survey, the Geological Society, and became Chair of the Earth Science Education Forum. His family was incredibly important to him. He died on 28 November 2023, at the age of 91. His successor as MP for Rhondda, Sir Chris Bryant, called him "a magnificent advocate for the people of the Rhondda through some of its darkest times".

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Allan 1932 births 2023 deaths 20th-century British geologists 20th-century Welsh educators Alumni of Swansea University Confederation of Health Service Employees-sponsored MPs MEPs for Wales 1979–1984 Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Welsh geologists Welsh Labour MEPs Welsh Labour MPs Welsh schoolteachers Academics of the University of Glamorgan 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Caerphilly County Borough