Andrew Robathan
Encyclopedia
Andrew Robert George Robathan (born 17 July 1951) is a British
Conservative
politician, and Member of Parliament
(MP) for South Leicestershire
(previously Blaby
) in Leicestershire
. He is currently a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence
and Minister for Veterans.
in Northwood, Robathan went on to Oriel College, Oxford gaining a BA
in Modern History in 1973.
On graduation he studied at the British Army
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
before becoming an officer in the Coldstream Guards
from 1974–89, and the Special Air Service
(SAS). He also studied at the Staff College
, Camberley
.
He worked for BP
from 1991–92, but volunteered to return to the Army between January and April 1991 during the First Gulf War, serving as chief of staff of the Prisoner of War Guard Force in Saudi Arabia
, Iraq
and Kuwait
.
.
He resigned in late 1991 to fight the 1992 general election
, elected as MP for Blaby in 1992 succeeding Nigel Lawson
, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer
. Blaby is a safe Conservative seat, but Robathan's majority has been considerably reduced due to major boundary changes in 1997, creating a rise in Liberal Democrat support within the constituency. In the past two elections, Robathan has faced J. David Morgan of the Labour Party. Following a public enquiry by the Electoral Commission
and submissions from the public including Robathan, the Blaby constituency will be known as South Leicestershire from the next general election onwards.
Robathan was heckled by opposing MPs for putting his hands in his pockets - which is strictly against the rules of the Palace of Westminster
- on 19 December 1994.
Robathan spent four years on the departmental select committee between 1997 and 2001. He is a former chairman, currently Vice chairman, of the All Party Cycling Group, and vice chairman of the All Party Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group.
Robathan was John Redwood
's Parliamentary Private Secretary
to Iain Sproat
, Minister for Sport, in the Major administration before returning to the backbenches when the Conservatives lost the 1997 general election
. He returned to the front-bench as Trade and Industry Spokesman in 2002.
In the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election
, Robathan was a keen supporter of Michael Portillo
. After six months on the backbenches, Robathan was appointed Commons Liaison to the Lords and then a defence spokesman in which capacity he fought the 2005 general election
.
In the 2005 Conservative leadership election
, Robathan was one of the very first MPs to declare his support for David Cameron
and was rewarded with one of only five paid posts in opposition, Opposition Deputy Chief Whip
.
In May 2010, he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence
with responsibility for Welfare and Veterans.
, the then Deputy Prime Minister
. Their mutual antagonism was not helped by Robathan's hand in reporting Prescott to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
over Prescott's complicated living arrangements. At the time, the DPM had four homes and was not declaring the benefit received from a flat owned by the RMT
in Clapham
.
On 23 July 2007, Robathan was ridiculed in Parliament by George Galloway
MP for his poor English grammar in a letter of complaint he had sent to the Standards and Privileges Commissioner.
The website Political Scrapbook criticised Andrew Robathan's actions towards a female MP, implying he was sexist. Robathan allegedly tried to throw Stella Creasy
MP out of a members only lift assuming she was a researcher. The website later revealed that Rothbathan had also "tried to force a post-natal colleague to vote in person" PS reported that he interogated Meg Hillier
MP about "how many weeks". The website labelled Robathan "The Blue Dinasour", citing his voting record as further evidence.
for claiming on personal books and journals, and for claiming the maximum second home entitlement of £24,006 in the period 2008–09. Robathan was listed by the Daily Telegraph as an MP who employs a family member and claims their salary from the taxpayer on House of Commons expenses. His 2008/09 expenses were ranked 621st out of 645 in descending order of cost to the tax payer.
On 24 August 2009, he was quoted in The Times
newspaper suggesting that MP's salaries be increased to £110,000. These comments were heavily frowned upon by his colleagues in Parliament and the media.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician, and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for South Leicestershire
South Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency)
Leicestershire South is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
(previously Blaby
Blaby (UK Parliament constituency)
Blaby is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
) in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. He is currently a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
and Minister for Veterans.
Biography
Educated at Merchant Taylors' SchoolMerchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
in Northwood, Robathan went on to Oriel College, Oxford gaining a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Modern History in 1973.
On graduation he studied at the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
before becoming an officer in the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
from 1974–89, and the Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
(SAS). He also studied at the Staff College
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.-Origins:...
, Camberley
Camberley
Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles southwest of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. The town lies close to the borders of both Hampshire and Berkshire; the boundaries intersect on the western edge of the town where all three counties...
.
He worked for BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
from 1991–92, but volunteered to return to the Army between January and April 1991 during the First Gulf War, serving as chief of staff of the Prisoner of War Guard Force in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
.
Personal life
He married Rachel Maunder in December 1991 in Westminster. They have a son (born December 1996) and daughter (born July 1999). He speaks French and German, and is a Freeman of the City of LondonCity of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
Parliamentary career
Robathan was elected to Hammersmith and Fulham Council in May 1990, defeating the Labour mayor in Eel Brook Ward.He resigned in late 1991 to fight the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, elected as MP for Blaby in 1992 succeeding Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
. Blaby is a safe Conservative seat, but Robathan's majority has been considerably reduced due to major boundary changes in 1997, creating a rise in Liberal Democrat support within the constituency. In the past two elections, Robathan has faced J. David Morgan of the Labour Party. Following a public enquiry by the Electoral Commission
Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
and submissions from the public including Robathan, the Blaby constituency will be known as South Leicestershire from the next general election onwards.
Robathan was heckled by opposing MPs for putting his hands in his pockets - which is strictly against the rules of the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
- on 19 December 1994.
Robathan spent four years on the departmental select committee between 1997 and 2001. He is a former chairman, currently Vice chairman, of the All Party Cycling Group, and vice chairman of the All Party Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group.
Robathan was John Redwood
John Redwood
John Alan Redwood is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Wokingham. He was formerly Secretary of State for Wales in Prime Minister John Major's Cabinet and was an unsuccessful challenger for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995...
's Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to Iain Sproat
Iain Sproat
Iain MacDonald Sproat was a British Conservative Member of Parliament . He was educated at Winchester College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He worked as a publisher and journalist....
, Minister for Sport, in the Major administration before returning to the backbenches when the Conservatives lost the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. He returned to the front-bench as Trade and Industry Spokesman in 2002.
In the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2001
The 2001 Conservative leadership election was held after the United Kingdom Conservative Party failed to make inroads into the Labour government's lead in the 2001 general election. Party leader William Hague resigned, and a leadership contest was called under new rules Hague had introduced...
, Robathan was a keen supporter of Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
. After six months on the backbenches, Robathan was appointed Commons Liaison to the Lords and then a defence spokesman in which capacity he fought the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
.
In the 2005 Conservative leadership election
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2005
The 2005 Conservative leadership election was called by party leader Michael Howard on 6 May 2005, when he announced that he would be stepping down as leader in the near future. However, he stated that he would not depart until a review of the rules for the leadership election had been conducted,...
, Robathan was one of the very first MPs to declare his support for David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
and was rewarded with one of only five paid posts in opposition, Opposition Deputy Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
.
In May 2010, he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
with responsibility for Welfare and Veterans.
Disputes
Robathan took a very personal interest in the affairs of John PrescottJohn Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
, the then Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
. Their mutual antagonism was not helped by Robathan's hand in reporting Prescott to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons.He or she is appointed by a Resolution of the House of Commons and works a four-day week.- Tasks :...
over Prescott's complicated living arrangements. At the time, the DPM had four homes and was not declaring the benefit received from a flat owned by the RMT
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...
in Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
.
On 23 July 2007, Robathan was ridiculed in Parliament by George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
MP for his poor English grammar in a letter of complaint he had sent to the Standards and Privileges Commissioner.
The website Political Scrapbook criticised Andrew Robathan's actions towards a female MP, implying he was sexist. Robathan allegedly tried to throw Stella Creasy
Stella Creasy
Dr Stella Judith Creasy is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Walthamstow since 2010.-Education:...
MP out of a members only lift assuming she was a researcher. The website later revealed that Rothbathan had also "tried to force a post-natal colleague to vote in person" PS reported that he interogated Meg Hillier
Meg Hillier
Margaret Olivia Hillier is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney South and Shoreditch since 2005, and was a junior Minister in HM Government from 2007 to 2010...
MP about "how many weeks". The website labelled Robathan "The Blue Dinasour", citing his voting record as further evidence.
Expenses
Robathan was criticized in the 2009 Parliamentary expenses scandalUnited Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
for claiming on personal books and journals, and for claiming the maximum second home entitlement of £24,006 in the period 2008–09. Robathan was listed by the Daily Telegraph as an MP who employs a family member and claims their salary from the taxpayer on House of Commons expenses. His 2008/09 expenses were ranked 621st out of 645 in descending order of cost to the tax payer.
On 24 August 2009, he was quoted in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper suggesting that MP's salaries be increased to £110,000. These comments were heavily frowned upon by his colleagues in Parliament and the media.
External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Andrew Robathan MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Andrew Robathan MP
- Biography
- South Leicestershire Conservative Association
- BBC Politics page