Graham Allen

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For the English footballer, see Graham Allen (footballer).

Graham William Allen (b. 11 January 1953) British politician. The current Labour Member of House of Commons for the Nottingham North constituency.

Born in 1953 in Nottingham, he was educated at the local Robert Shaw Primary School and Forrest Fields Grammar School. He went on to study at the City of London Polytechnic, and the University of Leeds, where he obtained a degree in politics with economics and sociology.

He joined the Labour Party in 1971 when he was working as a warehouse worker. He worked for four years from 1979 as a Research Officer with the Labour Party. In 1982 he was elected as a councillor to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which he served until 1986. He was briefly a local government officer at the Greater London Council, before he worked for the Trade Union movement, firstly with the Trades Union Congress and then with the GMB.

Graham Allen was selected to contest the seat of Nottingham North at the 1987 General Election, a seat which had been won by the Conservative Party at the previous 1983 General Election. Allen managed to defeat the Conservative incumbent Richard Ottaway by just 1,665 votes. His majority has grown somewhat since.

After helping to organise Tony Blair's leadership campaign, Allen was given a series of shadow portfolios, including transport and constitution, but in office he never rose higher than government whip. His frontbench career always promised more than he got the chance to deliver and he was returned to the backbenches in the reshuffle following the 2001 general election. It may have been his radicalism which prevented his ministerial career rising further.

He is one of Labour's most enthusiastic proponents of constitutional reform, and supports proportional representation for Westminster and a fully elected House of Lords. He introduced a bill calling for a written constitution in the UK. In November 2000, he published a book, The Last Prime Minister: Being Honest About the UK Presidency, claiming that the UK effectively had a presidency. He argued that the Prime Minister (or 'President', as he referred to the office throughout the book) should be directly and separately elected in order for a better separation of powers. This new arrangement, he argued, would be best spelled out "in plain English" in a written constitution.

Allen has also called for the euro to be introduced as a 'dual currency' alongside the pound in the UK. He was at the forefront of a successful campaign to recall Parliament to discuss Iraq in September 2002, attempting to organise an unofficial recall if the House would not formally sit.

Allen has been described as an enthusiastic constituency MP, having been born and brought up in Nottingham North, which he now represents. He has held numerous debates and asked many questions on the state of his constituency, which has one of the lowest rates of educational attainment in the country, sending the fewest number of children to university of any constituency, and has high unemployment. He is one of the tallest MPs, with a taste for cask ale, and is a very keen and able cricketer who can boast that he has bowled out the legendary Garfield Sobers.

Graham Allen is now the chairman of One Nottingham, formerly known as Once City Partnership.

In the May 2005 election he lost only 69 votes from his majority despite a massive swing against Labour nationally. In October of 2005, Allen was named the chairman of One City Partnership Nottingham, which was subsequently named One Nottingham.

He is an enthusiastic sportsman, and was the first MP to score a century for the Labour cricket team.

Allen is married to Allyson Stewart, a marketing consultant and co-author of the book, Working With Americans. Allyson Stewart-Allen is a frequent business commentator on CNN's World Report. The Allens have one daughter.

Graham Allen is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.

Political offices
Preceded by Janet Anderson	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1998–2001	Succeeded by Gerry Sutcliffe
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Richard Ottaway	Member of Parliament for Nottingham North 1987 – present	Incumbent