Christian Allard (born 31 March 1964) is a French-born British politician. Allard was elected as a Scottish National Party (SNP)

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

constituency in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...

, serving until the 31 January 2020 when the

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

process was completed. He is also a former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region 2013−2016 and has been a councillor for

Aberdeen City Council gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption ...

since 2017.

Background

Allard was born in 1964 in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He first came to

around 1986, when he accepted the offer from a European seafood transport and logistics network (Tradimar/STEF) to open an office in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. After marrying a Scot, he later moved to the North East to work for a seafood exporting company. He worked in the fishing industry for over 30 years.

Political career

Allard joined the SNP around 2004. His belief that

could and should be an independent country was shaped by his experiences in the fishing industry. Allard worked part-time as a constituency assistant to Dennis Robertson MSP, and was a key part of Mr Robertson’s successful 2011 campaign team in Aberdeenshire West. He succeeded Mark McDonald after he resigned his list seat to contest the 2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election. His swearing into the Scottish Parliament was conducted in both English and French, the first time that the latter language has been used for the purpose. Allard stood for re-election in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and topped the SNP's regional list in the North East region. The SNP's dominated the constituency seats in the North East, with the regional seats going to candidates from the lists of other parties. Allard stood for election at the 2017 Aberdeen City Council election for the Torry/Ferryhill ward and took the 3rd seat with 910 1st preference votes. Allard was elected as a

for the

constituency in the

. He served as MEP until the 31 January 2020, when the

process was completed. At the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The e ...

, he was the second list candidate for the SNP in the North East.

Personal life

Allard has raised three daughters in Scotland, and also now has four grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allard, Christian 1964 births Living people Politicians from Dijon French emigrants to the United Kingdom Politicians from Aberdeen Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Scottish National Party MEPs MEPs for Scotland 2019–2020 Councillors in Aberdeen Scottish National Party councillors

Background

Political career

Personal life

See also

References

External links