Lord Robertson of Port Ellen

Right Honourable Lord Robertson of Port Ellen wa the 10th Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the North Atlantic Council (1999-2003).

"He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Social Services in 1979. After the 1979 General Election, he was appointed an Opposition Spokesman, first on Scottish Affairs, then on Defence, and on Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1993. He became Chief Spokesman on Europe in 1983. He served as the principal Opposition Spokesman on Scotland in the Shadow Cabinet from 1993-1997.

"After the 1997 General Election, Prime Minister Blair appointed him Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, a position he held until his departure in October 1999. In August 1999 he was selected to be the tenth Secretary General of NATO in succession to Dr Javier Solana. On 24 August he received a life peerage and took the title Lord Robertson of Port Ellen.

"He is a former Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party, was Vice-chairman of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, served as Vice-Chairman of the British Council for nine years. He was, for seven years, on the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) where he now serves as Joint President. He is a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation and a Trustee of the 21st Century Trust."

Lord Robertson was appointed a non-executive director of Weir Group plc "in February 2004. He is deputy chairman of TNK-BP and a non-executive director of Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd. He is senior international advisor to Cable and Wireless Communications plc and a senior counsellor with The Cohen Group (USA). He was the Secretary of State for Defence from 1997 until 1999 before becoming Secretary General of NATO from 1999 until 2003. He was formerly a director of Smiths Group plc (2004-2006) and deputy chairman of Cable & Wireless plc (2004-2006)."


 * Patron, European Movement
 * Patron, British American Project