{{short description|British politician}} {{for|the American politician and lawyer|J. Allen Adams}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Allen Adams | office = Member of Parliament<br />for Paisley North<br />{{nobold|Paisley (1979–83)}} | term_start = 3 May 1979 | term_end = 5 September 1990 | predecessor = John Robertson | successor = Irene Adams | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|02|16|df=yes}} | birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|9|5|1946|2|16|df=y}} | party = Labour | spouse = {{marriage|Irene Adams|1968}} }} '''Allender Steele Adams''' (16 February 1946 – 5 September 1990), known as '''Allen Adams''', was a Scottish Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley from 1979 to 1983 and Paisley North from 1983 to 1990. Adams was born in Glasgow, and married Irene Adams on 24 February 1968.<ref>"Announcements", ''The Daily Telegraph'', 30 June 2005</ref>
He was elected as a Member of Strathclyde Regional Council for Paisley Craigielea in 1974,<ref>{{cite book|title=Scottish Regional and District Elections 1974|publisher=Scottish Academic Press|author1=J.M.Bochel|author2=D.T.Denver|url=http://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Scottish-Regional-and-District-Elections-1974.pdf|page=34}}</ref> a position he held until standing down due to his election as the MP for Paisley.
He served as Labour's Scottish whip whilst an MP. In a notable speech on 31 March 1988, he described Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons as having ''"behaved towards Scotland with all the sensitivity of a sex-starved boa constrictor"'', a remark immediately withdrawn, as is the custom in the Commons.<ref>{{UK Parliament | date= 31 March 1988| place=House of Commons|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1988-03-31a.1277.0&s=speaker%3A14181#g1283.4|speaker=Mr Allen Adams|column=1283|title=Given that once again this week the Prime Minister has behaved towards Scotland with all the sensitivity of a sex-starved boa constrictor}}</ref>
==Death== Adams died on 5 September 1990 at the age of 44 from a brain hemorrhage.<ref name="hera_Betw">{{Cite web| title = Between jellies and a hard place| date = 13 November 1995| work = Herald Scotland| url = http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12063239.Between_jellies_and_a_hard_place/}}</ref> In the by-election that followed his death, his widow Irene Adams, succeeded him as MP for Paisley North.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
== References == <references/>
== External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-allen-adams | Allen Adams }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef |before=John Robertson}} {{s-ttl |title=Member of Parliament for Paisley |years=1979–1983 }} {{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}
{{s-new | constituency}} {{s-ttl |title=Member of Parliament for Paisley North |years=1983–1990 }} {{s-aft |after=Irene Adams }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Allen}} Category:1946 births Category:1990 deaths Category:Scottish Labour MPs Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Paisley constituencies Category:UK MPs 1979–1983 Category:UK MPs 1983–1987 Category:UK MPs 1987–1992 Category:Scottish Labour councillors Category:Spouses of life peers
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