Alison Seabeck

Alison Jane Seabeck (née Ward) (born 20 January 1954) is an English Labour Party politician and shadow Minister under the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. She was previously the shadow Housing Minister. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Devonport from 2005 until 2010 when she won the new seat of Plymouth Moor View.

Early life

Seabeck went to Harold Hill Grammar School (became Upper Bedfords Park School in 1973 then closed down) on Appleby Drive in Harold Hill in London. She studied at the North East London Polytechnic (now the University of East London) in Stratford. Seabeck was a member of the MSF (now Amicus), and whilst working at the House of Commons became the secretary of the South Thames Community Branch. She is also a member of the feminist Fawcett Society and the Labour Women's Network.^[1]

Political career

Seabeck was picked for the Plymouth Devonport seat from an all-women shortlist.^[2]

Seabeck was elected at the 2005 general election with a majority of 8,103, replacing David Jamieson. She served as a Government Whip attached to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform from 2007 to 2008.

In the 2010 general election Seabeck successfully held her seat in Plymouth Moor View.^[3]

On 11 October 2010, Seabeck was appointed Shadow Housing Minister,^[4] working with Caroline Flint, the then shadow secretary for Communities and Local Government. On 7 October 2011, she was appointed Shadow Defence Minister^[4] during Ed Miliband's reshuffle.

In December 2010 it was revealed that Seabeck was under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in relation to declaration of member's interests.^[5][6] Seabeck was subsequently asked to apologise for speaking in a debate on fire safety without declaring that her husband, MP Nick Raynsford was a member of the Fire Protection Association.^[7]

She was also a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014^[8]

In 2014 she tried to introduce an exemption from the bedroom tax so that victims of domestic violence with a "panic room" installed were no longer penalised for the additional room.^[9]

Personal life

She married her former husband Denis in 1975 and they have two daughters.^[1] She is the wife of Nick Raynsford MP, for whom she worked as researcher before entering Parliament. Her father was the former Labour MP for Peterborough, Michael Ward.^[10]

Seabeck hired her daughter to work as an assistant in Parliament.^[11]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Meet the MP: Alison Seabeck". BBC News. 20 June 2005. 
2. ↑ "Labour selects female candidate". BBC News. 24 March 2005. 
3. ↑ "2010 election, Plymouth Moor View". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Alison Seabeck to be shadow housing minister". Inside Housing. Retrieved 11 October 2010. 
5. ↑ Beckford, Martin (9 December 2010). "MPs' expenses: 17 MPs were re-elected after secret deals on expenses". The Daily Telegraph (London). 
6. ↑ "'Secretly' resolved MPs' expenses cases made public". The Guardian (London). 9 December 2010. 
7. ↑ "Labour MP Alison Seabeck breached disclosure rules". BBC. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2015. 
8. ↑ "House of Commons Public Bill Committee on the Defence Reform Bill 2013-14". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
9. ↑ "Plymouth MP to call for exemption from bedroom tax for domestic abuse victims". Plymouth Herald. April 28, 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2015. 
10. ↑ "MP in Olympics row leaves wife for Bon Jovi-loving former aide". Daily Mail (London). 23 September 2007. 
11. ↑ City MP defends hiring of relatives

External links

• Alison Seabeck MP - for Plymouth, Devonport
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alison Seabeck MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Alison Seabeck MP
• Meet the MP (BBC 2005)
• BBC Politics page
• Being picked for her seat in 2005