Preceded by Andrew Lansley Name Heidi Allen Party Conservative Party Political party Conservative | Nationality British Spouse Phil Allen Majority 20,594 (33.5%) Role Politician | |
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Born 18 January 1975 (age 49)
Notton, West Yorkshire, England ( 1975-01-18 ) Website www.heidisouthcambs.co.uk/ Profiles | ||
Education University College London | ||
Heidi allen mp and lewis herbert sunday politics 31 may 2015
Heidi Allen (born 18 January 1975) is a British Conservative Party politician.
Contents
- Heidi allen mp and lewis herbert sunday politics 31 may 2015
- Heidi allen mp s maiden speech full tory goes against government on tax credits
- Early life and education
- Career
- Political career
- Mayoral intentions
- References
Allen was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Cambridgeshire at the 2015 general election. She succeeded Andrew Lansley, the former Conservative government minister who had held the seat since its creation in 1997, following his retirement from the House of Commons in 2015.
Heidi allen mp s maiden speech full tory goes against government on tax credits
Early life and education
Allen was born in Notton, a small rural village near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, and attained a degree in astrophysics from University College London (BSc).
Career
Allen worked in various corporate positions, including ExxonMobil and the Royal Mail. In 2008 she joined the family classic-motorcycle paints business, RS Bike Paint Ltd, established by her parents in 1978 and now run by her husband Phil Allen. Heidi helped it develop from its original UK-based customer base into an export-driven company.
Political career
Allen claims she was inspired to get involved in politics after watching the scenes of the Tottenham riots, and first became a councillor in St Albans. Allen served as a councillor for 18 months before making a bid to become an MP.
In 2014, Allen came a close second in the controversial open primary for the South East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency before, in October, being selected as prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC), for South Cambridgeshire. The seat was already held by the Conservative Andrew Lansley, then a cabinet minister, who had decided to stand down at the next general election. She won the seat in the 2015 general election, increasing the Conservative majority and taking 51.1% of the votes cast. The nearest candidate was Labour who took 17.6% of the vote.
In July 2015, she was elected a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee. Allen made her maiden speech before the House of Commons on 20 October 2015, when she detailed criticism of proposed cuts to tax credits, saying, 'because today I can sit on my hands no longer'. She wanted to criticise the proposed tax credit cuts. She wanted to intervene before it was 'too late' to stop the changes to tax credits, even though she didn't want to support the motion tabled by Labour because she disagreed with the party's overall stance, whilst also not being in favour of the Government's motion over tax credit cuts. Isabel Hardman of The Spectator described her speech as "truly brave" and "well argued". Despite her speech she voted in favour of tax credit cuts, in line with the Conservative whip.
Allen was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum. Allen voted in favour of triggering article 50 in a vote in the House of Commons.
In 2017, she was re-elected as Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire in the snap General Election. Over that summer it was mooted that Jacob Rees-Mogg would be a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party and Heidi Allen announced that if he became leader she would leave the party.
Mayoral intentions
On 5 December 2016 Heidi Allen announced her intention to put her name forward for the Conservative nomination for the election of Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in May 2017. Allen proposed to combine the role with her current position as MP for South Cambridgeshire. However, in January 2017 she failed to win the Conservative Party nomination for the role.