Richard Beecroft Allan, Baron Allan of Hallam (born 11 February 1966) is a British politician and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

. He was the Liberal Democrat

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

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

in the

2010 Dissolution Honours The 2010 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 28 May 2010 at the advice of the outgoing Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The list was gazetted on 15 June. Life Peerages Conservative * Timothy Eric Boswell - former Whip and Parliamentary secreta ...

Early life

Allan was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

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

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He studied at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, and gained a BA in Archaeology and Anthropology in 1988. From

Bristol Polytechnic The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

, he gained an

MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...

in Information Technology in 1990. He was a field archaeologist in Britain, France and the Netherlands in 1984–85, and in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

in 1988–89. He was a computer manager at Avon FHSA in 1991–97.

Parliamentary career

In 1997, Allan unseated

Irvine Patnick Sir Cyril Irvine Patnick OBE (11 October 1929 – 30 December 2012) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. He was knighted in 1994.Martin WainwrighObituary: Irvine Patnick ''The Guardian'', 31 December 2012 Early life Th ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

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 media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

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

as Baron Allan of Hallam, of

Ecclesall Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Carterknowle, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southwester ...

in the county of

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, and was introduced in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

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 an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

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 The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of ...

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) is a multi-disciplinary department of social and computer science dedicated to the study of information, communication, and technology, and is part of the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford ...

and deputy chairman of the

British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles The British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) is a group of British people who support the return of the Parthenon (Elgin) marbles to Athens, Greece. Further reading * Tom Flynn, The Universal Museum (Lulu, 2012) ...

Personal life

Allan married Louise Netley on 25 May 1991 in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

. They have since separated. Allan has three daughters. Rosie Mae Allan, born Sept 30th 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 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 Living people People educated at Birkdale School People educated at Oundle School Politics of Sheffield UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 British male bloggers