Richard Beecroft Allan, Baron Allan of Hallam (born 11 February 1966), is a British politician. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam from 1997 to 2005. He was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in the 2010 Dissolution Honours.

Early life

Allan was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. He went to the independent Oundle School in north-east

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. He studied at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, 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 1984–1985, and in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

in 1988–1989. He was a computer manager at Avon FHSA in 1991–1997.

Parliamentary career

In 1997, Allan 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 Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

, for whom he acted as campaign manager. On 22 July 2010, he was created a

as Baron Allan of Hallam, of Ecclesall in the county of

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, and was introduced in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on 26 July 2010, where he sits as a Liberal Democrat peer.

Post political career

From June 2009 to September 2019 Allan was employed by

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

as Director of Policy in Europe, responsible for representing the company and lobbying EU governments on matters of concern to it. He was previously Head of Government Affairs for Cisco Systems UK. Allan has given various interviews responding to media concerns about Facebook, and in January 2012 he gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on Facebook's attitude to malicious posting and to privacy. He is a visiting fellow of the

Oxford Internet Institute The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research, combining social and computer science to explore information, communication, and technology. It is an integral part of the University of Oxford's Social Science ...

and deputy chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Personal life

Allan married Louise Netley on 25 May 1991 in

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

. They have since separated. Allan has three daughters. Rosie Mae Allan, born on 30 September 1988, and twin daughters with his current partner.

References

External links

*
More Political Times
Richard Allan's weblog (archived) *
Oxford Internet Institute

Sheffield Liberal Democrats
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Richard 1966 births Living people Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol English bloggers Facebook employees Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Birkdale School People educated at Oundle School Politics of Sheffield UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 British male bloggers Politicians from Sheffield