30 Facts About Heidi Allen

Heidi Suzanne Allen is a British businesswoman and former politician who served as the Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire from 2015 to 2019.

Heidi Allen resigned from Change UK in June of the same year, and joined the Liberal Democrats in October 2019.

Heidi Allen's mother is German; her father worked for the colour division of ICI.

Heidi Allen attended Wakefield Girls' High School, before receiving a BSc degree in astrophysics from University College London.

Heidi Allen worked in corporate positions, including with ExxonMobil and the Royal Mail.

Heidi Allen has said she was inspired to become active in politics after watching the scenes of the Tottenham riots; she first became a councillor in St Albans.

Heidi Allen served as a councillor for 18 months before making a bid to become an MP.

In February 2014, Heidi Allen ran in an open selection process for the South East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency Conservative Party candidacy.

Heidi Allen was beaten by Lucy Frazer, but there was initially a controversy about a possible miscount of votes on Frazer's selection.

Frazer was reaffirmed as the candidate in January 2014, and in October 2014 Heidi Allen was selected as prospective parliamentary candidate for South Cambridgeshire.

In July 2015, Heidi Allen was elected to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Heidi 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".

Heidi Allen wanted to criticise the proposed tax credit cuts and to intervene before it was "too late" to stop the changes to tax credits, even though she did not wish to support the motion put forward by Labour because she disagreed with the party's overall stance, whilst not being in favour of the Government's motion over tax credit cuts.

Heidi Allen supported continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 referendum.

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.

Heidi Allen proposed to combine the role with her current position as MP for South Cambridgeshire.

In June 2017, Heidi Allen 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.

In December 2017, Heidi Allen was tearful during a House of Commons debate on Universal Credit after hearing fellow MP, Frank Field, describe how he had talked a man out of suicide.

In June 2018, during a debate on changing the abortion laws in Northern Ireland following a referendum in the Republic of Ireland which would amend the Constitution of Ireland to allow terminations, Heidi Allen said that she had an abortion for health reasons when she was younger.

In September 2018, Heidi Allen spoke in favour of a second referendum on the UK leaving the European Union.

Heidi Allen said she feared the danger to jobs and businesses in her constituency and the whole nation from leaving the EU without a deal.

Heidi Allen blamed the party's Eurosceptic right-wing for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, and called them "fiscally and economically irresponsible".

Heidi Allen stated that a second referendum should include the option of staying in the EU under current terms.

On 29 March 2019, it was announced Change UK had applied to become a political party and Heidi Allen would be appointed interim leader.

In May 2019, Heidi Allen threatened to resign as leader during an internal party row about whether Change UK should back the Liberal Democrats in some regions at the European elections.

In July 2019, Heidi Allen founded a looser grouping of MPs called The Independents.

On 7 October 2019, it was announced that Heidi Allen had joined the Liberal Democrats and would initially stand for the party in her South Cambridgeshire constituency at the next election.

Heidi Allen said that Brexit had "broken our politics" and only a new referendum could solve the deadlock.

Heidi Allen added that she was "exhausted by the invasion into my privacy and the nastiness and intimidation that has become commonplace".