Alan has been the Shadow Minister for Energy Security since April 2020 and served as the Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister October 2016 – April 2020 and the Shadow DECC Minister for Generation and Transmission September 2015 – June 2016. 

During his time in office he has championed the development of a new decarbonised energy landscape. He is frequently lauded by his fellow parliamentarians for his grasp of the complexities of this policy area.

Since becoming the Labour MP for Southampton Test in 1997 Alan has served on the Select Committees for Environment, Transport and the Regions; Energy and Climate Change and Environmental Audit. He has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Southampton University.