Alan was first elected on 7 May 2015 as our local MP. He was re-elected in June 2017, and re-elected again on 12th December 2019 with the biggest ever majority and the highest Conservative vote share in the constituency's history. In addition to his role as our local MP, Alan is also a Minister in the Government (Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury).
Alan won the Best New Conservative MP Award 2017/18 at the MP of the Year Awards in recognition of his hard work for residents all year round - and Alan will continue to serve local residents with dedication and work hard all year round.
Working Hard for Local Residents - All Year Round
Alan's vision is for everyone across the Havant Constituency to have a secure and prosperous future. His three local priorities are: a strong local economy, successful local schools, and vibrant local communities.
Since his election in May 2015, Alan has been actively meeting local residents, understanding local issues, and supporting local businesses, schools and community groups in every part of our diverse constituency.
Since 2015 Alan has launched a range of local community events and initiatives to help local residents, including organising:
- 5 Jobs, Apprenticeships and Careers Fairs - helping local people find work, change career or get advice about employment;
- 4 Community Groups & Older Persons' Information Fairs - showcasing local community groups, charities, voluntary bodies and sports clubs;
- 4 Small Business & Community Awards - to support our local independent shops and high streets;
- Alan's Havant Business Support Fund - to provide qualifying local people and businesses with finance to start or grow their business and secure local jobs in our area.
- School Reading Challenge - to encourage more local young people to read and enjoy books.
Alan works closely with our local elected Havant Borough councillors and Havant’s Hampshire County Councillors who also have a wide range of responsibilities that affect our local area.
Alan lives in the Havant Constituency, and his constituency office is in central Havant near Langstone Technology Park. Like all MPs, he divides his time between the constituency and Westminster.
Alan in Parliament: Our Local Champion and National Legislator
Alan’s main policy interests are the economy & business, including Britain's leadership of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; education & skills; and keeping Britain safe & successful in a changing world (focusing on defence & foreign policy, and Britain’s international economic competitiveness). These are all relevant across the Havant Constituency and reflect the priorities of local residents.
Alan has spoken regularly in the Chamber of the House of Commons on issues of local importance (such as local economic regeneration across Havant) and national significance (such as UK economic policy and Britain's role in the world); and plays an active role in the legislative process (for example by scrutinising and voting on legislation).
Before his appointment as a Government Minister, he sat on a number of important Parliamentary committees and held a variety of leading roles in Parliamentary groups. For example, the House of Commons Procedure Select Committee (which examined & backed the "English Votes for English Laws" policy); and the 2015 and 2016 Finance Bill Committees (passing the Government's annual Budgets). Following the 2017 General Election, Alan was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Ministry of Justice, then promoted in successive reshuffles to serve as PPS to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and later at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). In February 2020, Alan was promoted to serve as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In November 2020, he was appointed by the Prime Minister to serve as Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party Policy Board. In April 2021, he was appointed by the Prime Minister as a Minister in the Government (Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury).
Alan was formerly an active in a number of important All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) reflecting his interests, expertise, and relevance to his constituency, including the APPG on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (former Chairman); APPG for Entrepreneurship (former Co-Chairman); the APPG for Hampshire (Co-Founder & former Vice Chairman); the APPG for Small Business (former Secretary); the British-American Parliamentary Group (as Executive Committee member); and the APPG for the Armed Forces (active Member).
He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme and completed a year's "work experience" with the Royal Navy alongside his MP duties. Alan is also an alumnus of a number of programmes for young political leaders and policymakers: the US State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP); the British-German Forum and the Munich Security Conference (Munich Young Leaders).
Locally, Alan holds a range of unpaid, honorary ex-officio roles in the community, including with Havant Rugby Football Club (as a Vice President), Havant & Waterlooville Football Club (as Vice President); the Royal British Legion's Havant Branch (as Vice President) and the Havant Borough Sports Association (as Honorary President).
Alan is the first-ever Member of Parliament from any political party with British-Chinese heritage. He is also the first ever MP of British-Chinese heritage to be appointed as a Government Minister from any party. He co-founded The Blossom Awards in 2020 to recognise inspiring figures and unsung heroes from the British-Chinese community.
Personal Background
Alan was born and grew up in York, where his parents started and ran a small family business (a small high street shop) for over 20 years. He lived above the shop, and worked in it from a young age and went on to help run it. It's where he learnt his Conservative values. Alan attended local state primary and secondary schools before securing an Assisted Place (a government scholarship introduced by Margaret Thatcher for bright students from poor backgrounds) to St. Peter’s School, York after his state secondary school was earmarked for closure. This was a life changing experience.
Alan became the first person in his family to attend university, reading Law at Peterhouse, Cambridge University and winning the prestigious ECS Wade Prize for Administrative Law (Top of Year), before completing a post-graduate law & business diploma in Oxford, where he was a runner-up for the Oxford Leadership Prize.
In his spare time, Alan enjoys spending time with his family and friends; watching sports (football, rugby, tennis and hockey); films; and travelling.
Real Life Experience: Professional, Business & Charitable
Before he was first elected as our local MP in May 2015, Alan had a successful business and professional career, having started & run his own small business, worked as a corporate lawyer in the City of London with Clifford Chance LLP, and helped manage his family's small business. He also invested in and/or advised a range of businesses, from an advertising & marketing group and an events business to technology start-ups.
Alan has won a number of business & professional awards including from Management Today/Sky (“One to Watch” future business leader), Square Mile Magazine (Top 30 under 30) and the Guardian/Courvoisier (Future 500). He was a member of the Davos World Economic Forum’s young Global Shapers community of leaders, and a former member of business groups like the Institute of Directors and the Financial Times Non-Executive Directors’ Club. He has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London and is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
Alan was also active with community-focused charities and good causes. He served as President & Trustee of Magic Breakfast, the UK's leading school breakfast club charity which feeds thousands of hungry children (including at six schools in the Havant constituency) and he was selected to carry the London2012 Olympic Torch. Alan founded and served as Chairman of the British Legion's Young Professionals' Branch (a network for young supporters of the Legion); served as a primary school governor for 6 years, and sat on Cambridge University's Alumni Advisory Board. He is a speaker for Speakers for Schools, a charity founded by ITV Political Editor Robert Peston that places successful business & public life leaders into state secondary schools to give careers advice and motivational talks.
Political Interests
Alan joined the Conservatives in 2000 as a grassroots rank-and-file member and campaigner in York to help William Hague’s “Save the Pound” campaign. He continued volunteering for the Party until his first election as Havant’s local MP in May 2015, building a reputation for working hard, delivering results, and working collaboratively. He is a member of Party groups such as the Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF), and a former Chairman of the Coningsby Club, an historic Conservative policy discussion group for Oxbridge Conservatives founded in 1921 whose former Chairmen include Cabinet ministers past and present such as Nigel Lawson, Michael Howard and Jeremy Hunt. Alan served on David Cameron’s Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group led by former Cabinet Minister Peter Lilley (and advised by Sir Bob Geldof) developing the Party's policies for international trade and aid for the 2010 election.
Alan’s main policy interests are the economy & business including Britain's leadership of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; education & skills and social mobility; and keeping Britain safe & successful in a changing world (focusing on defence & foreign policy, and Britain’s international economic competitiveness). These are all relevant across the Havant constituency and reflect the priorities of local residents.
Projects that Alan is currently focusing on include helping Britain become the world leader of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; and “Building the Opportunity Society”, a set of policy ideas to enhance social mobility.