Alison Seabeck
Alison Jane Seabeck ("née" Ward; born 20 January 1954) is a former English Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Devonport from 2005 until 2010 when she won the new seat of Plymouth Moor View before losing the seat to the Conservative Party at the 2015 general election. She was a shadow Housing and Defence Minister. Early life. Seabeck went to Harold Hill Grammar School (later Upper Bedfords Park School from 1973) 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 Unite), 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. Political career. Seabeck was picked for the Plymouth Devonport seat from an all-women shortlist. She 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. She chaired the South West Regional Select  Committee between 2009-2010 and sat on the Local Government Select Committee and the Regulatory Reform Select Committee between 2005 and 2007. Between 2006 and 2007, and again from 2008 to 2009, she was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Geoff Hoon. At the 2010 general election, Seabeck successfully held her seat in Plymouth Moor View. "The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2010" described her as having a "very low profile". On 11 October 2010, Seabeck was appointed Shadow Housing Minister, working with Caroline Flint, the then Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. On 7 October 2011 , she was appointed Shadow Defence Minister 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. Seabeck was subsequently asked to apologise for speaking in a debate on fire safety without declaring that her partner, MP Nick Raynsford was a member of the Fire Protection Association. She was also a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014 In 2014, she tried to introduce an exemption from the so-called 'bedroom tax' so that victims of  domestic violence with a "panic room" installed were no longer penalised for the additional room. At the 2015 general election, Seabeck again stood in Plymouth Moor View, but was defeated by the Conservative candidate Johnny Mercer. Personal life. She married Denis in 1975 and they have two daughters. She is now the wife of the former MP for Greenwich & Woolwich, Nick Raynsford, for whom she worked as researcher before entering Parliament. Her father was the former Labour MP for Peterborough, Michael Ward.