Richard Allan, whilst an MP, founded the Parthenon 2004 campaign in 2002, which was later re-branded as Marbles Reunited. Richard stood down as an MP in 2005.

Following the recent General Election, a Dissolution honours list has been released (as happens every time there is a new Parliament), of new Peers & Life Peers. Richard Allan has been named as one of the new Life Peers who will be entering the House of Lords, where he will hopefully be able to resume some of his efforts in lobbying for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures.

A number of other former MPs who were strong supporters of the campaign for reunification of the Parthenon Marbles are also due to enter the House of Lords.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Dissolution honours: the full list of new peers
This is the full list of the new members of the House of Lords created in the Dissolution Honours.
Published: 8:00AM BST 29 May 2010

Labour life peers:

Hilary Armstrong, chief whip under Tony Blair, stood down as MP for Durham North West at general election.

Des Browne, former defence secretary, stood down as MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun at general election.
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Despite promises when they were in opposition, since 1997, the UK’s Labour government has failed to make any meaningful headway towards resolving the situation of the Elgin Marbles in The British Museum. Previous statements from the Conservative party suggest that they would be even less in favour of any sort of reunification deal than Labour is.

Nick Clegg, unknown to many before he was elected as a UK MP in 2005, was previously an MEP & during this time he was involved in organising an exhibition at the European Parliament.

Since 2005, there have been 6 Early Day Motions relating to the Parthenon Marbles. Based on an analysis of the people who signed at least one of these EDMs, the breakdown of support (strong support – MPs only normally sign EDMs when they feel strongly about something) by party is:

Liberal Democrats – 33%
Labour – 15%
Conservative – 1%

The weak support from the Conservative party is particularly troubling – it is only 2 out of 193 MPs who have expressed any interest in the issue. These are: Richard Ottaway (Croydon South) & James Gray (North Wiltshire). There are other members of their party who I know are supportive of the issue, but clearly they are not interested enough in it to want to publicly express their support.

The SNP & Plaid Cymru are also supportive of return, but their results are less accurate as they have far fewer MPs:

SNP – 29%
Plaid Cymru – 100% (of 3MPs)

Other minor / regional parties that are supportive:

SDLP (Northern Ireland) – 67% (of 3 MPs)
Respect – 100% (of 1 MP)

Based on these results, a Liberal Democrat government in the UK currently seems by far the most positive option for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. (although the national parties listed above for Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland are also supportive of the issue).

Below is a press release from the Marbles in Exile conference (Note that The Parthenon 2004 campaign is what is now know as Marbles Reunited):

Embargo: 00.01, Wednesday 29th May, 2002
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SHOWS SUPPORT FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES – RICHARD ALLAN MP

Today, the (Parthenon) Marbles in Exile Conference and Exhibition will take place at the European Parliament. Nick Clegg MEP, chair of the Marbles in Exile Conference, says:

“I am thrilled by the positive response across Europe to this issue. After all, it’s about preserving our common European heritage. It is absurd that the Parthenon monument remains torn apart in this way. Imagine the outrage in Britain if Big Ben’s clock face was taken from Westminster and housed in the Prado museum in Spain.”
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A new exhibition, titled Marbles Reunited aims to demonstrate how much is gained if the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are reunited in one place, rather than fragmented between different museums.

From:
BBC News

Monday, 27 January, 2003, 14:11 GMT
Science reunites Elgin Marbles

A virtual reality exhibition showing how the Elgin Marbles would look if they were reunited goes on display at the Houses of Parliament on Monday.

The latest technology is being used to simulate how the 5th Century BC sculptures will appear if they are reunited with the rest of the Parthenon Marbles in Athens.
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Various former Olympic medal winners from Britain have expressed their support for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece.

From:
Guardian

Medallists back return of marbles to Parthenon
David Hencke
Saturday January 25, 2003

Ten British Olympic medal winners are backing the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece for next year’s Olympic Games, it will be announced on Monday.

The move – which will be a big fillip for the campaign to base the sculptures removed by Lord Elgin in a new purpose-built museum at the Parthenon – comes after the British Museum insisted that they must remain as major attraction in Britain.
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Nowadays, the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are split between different museums. A new exhibition aims to give an idea what some of the pieces would look like if they were united together once more.

From:
BBC News

Thursday, 2 January, 2003, 17:38 GMT
Elgin Marbles make ‘virtual’ return

The return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece has been simulated in a virtual reality exhibition, showing how the Parthenon treasures would look if they went back to Athens.

The virtual exhibition was first presented to the UK during a recent visit by Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos.
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The British Museum has responded to the recent calls from Greece for the return of the Elgin Marbles, suggesting that they have no intention on altering their position on the issue.

From:
Reuters

British Museum Resists Greece on Elgin Marbles
November 13, 2002 12:07 PM ET
By Christian Oliver

LONDON (Reuters) – Returning the Elgin marbles to Greece would rip the heart out of a collection that tells the story of human civilization, the British Museum said on Wednesday.

In a riposte to the latest efforts by Greece to repatriate the classical sculptures, the museum rejected proposals to send them back on a long-term loan basis.
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A new opinion poll commissioned by the Parthenon 2004 campaign shows that if certain conditions were met, the majority of British people would back the return of the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
BBC News

Tuesday, 15 October, 2002, 13:25 GMT 14:25 UK
Poll shows support for Marbles return

British people would strongly back the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece under certain conditions, according to a survey.

At least twice as many people polled felt that the artworks should be returned to Athens, compared with those who wanted them to remain in the UK.
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