Alan John Simpson (born 20 September 1948) is a British former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham South from

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Early life

Simpson attended Bootle Grammar School for Boys and studied economics at

Trent Polytechnic Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California ...

, where he was President of the Student Union from 1969–70. After graduating in 1972, he became a community worker, holding the post of Assistant General Secretary at the Nottingham Council of Voluntary Service from 1970–74, and working on an anti-vandalism project from 1974–78. He later became a research officer for the city's Racial Equality Council from 1979–92. He joined the Labour Party in 1973 and was elected a county councillor in 1985. He first contested his eventual seat in 1987.

Parliamentary career

Simpson is on the left-wing of the Labour Party. He was a member (and latterly treasurer) of the

Socialist Campaign Group The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...

of MPs, as well as being on the board of the left-wing ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

'' magazine. Simpson's opinions ran counter to those of the Labour frontbench: in the mid-1990s, he led the campaign to retain the original wording of

Clause IV Clause IV is part of the Labour Party Rule Book, which sets out the aims and values of the (UK) Labour Party. The original clause, adopted in 1918, called for common ownership of industry, and proved controversial in later years; Hugh Gaitskell a ...

, and later established the "Labour Against the War" group, which opposes the

Afghan war War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

and

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. On 31 October 2006, Simpson was among the 12 Labour MPs to back

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

's call for an inquiry into the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. On 18 February 2007, Simpson announced his intention to stand down at the next general election. In a letter to his constituency party members, he felt his effectiveness would be greater outside parliament campaigning for radical environmental policy changes, rather than remaining on the back benches. Another factor behind his decision was the birth in 2006 of a baby daughter with his third wife.

Expenses controversy

Simpson was asked to pay back £500 that he was accused of over-claiming in cleaning bills by the auditor of MPs' expenses,

Thomas Legg Sir Thomas Stuart Legg (born 13 August 1935) is a British former senior civil servant, who was Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, United Kingdom (1989–98). Biography Born in London in ...

. Legg has been openly challenged by Simpson who refuses to return the money. Simpson threatened to take Legg to court over this matter.MPs' expenses: Labour MP Alan Simpson openly challenges Sir Thomas Legg
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 14 October 2009

Personal life

Simpson married

Pascale Quiviger Pascale Quiviger (born 1969) is a Canadian writer and artist. Raised and educated in Quebec, she is currently based in the United Kingdom, where she writes, paints, teaches visual arts and practices hypnotherapy. Quiviger is married to former Brit ...

, a French-Canadian author and painter, in July 2005 at

Newstead Abbey Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron. Monastic foundation The prior ...

, the ancestral home of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

. They have a daughter born in January 2006. He has two sons and a daughter from a previous marriage.

Notes

External links

Guardian Politics – Alan Simpson see red over Big Power anti-green agenda

TheyWorkForYou.com – Alan Simpson MP

The Public Whip – Alan Simpson MP
voting record
BBC News – Alan Simpson
profile 10 February 2005
Interview with Alan Simpson about how we should make cities that do not steal from their children

Video clips

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Alan 1948 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Bootle Alumni of Nottingham Trent University UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 European democratic socialists Politicians from Liverpool