Andrew Robathan

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.^[1]

Biography

Educated at Merchant Taylors' School 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 London.

Parliamentary career

Robathan was elected to Hammersmith and Fulham Council in May 1990, defeating the Labour mayor in Eel Brook Ward.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[3]

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.^[3]

In May 2010, he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence with responsibility for Welfare and Veterans.^[2]

Disputes

Robathan took a very personal interest in the affairs of John Prescott, 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.^[5]

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 interrogated Meg Hillier MP about "how many weeks". The website labelled Robathan "The Blue Dinasour", citing his voting record as further evidence.^[6]

On 7 December 2011 Robathan attracted controversy by comparing the claim by veterans of the WWII Arctic Convoys for an Arctic Star medal to the proliferation of honours made by "authoritarian regimes" and "dictators": "One can look, for instance, at North Korean generals who are covered in medals or Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein... We have taken the view in this country, traditionally, that medals will only be awarded for campaigns that show risk and rigour.".^[7]

Expenses

Robathan was criticized in the 2009 Parliamentary expenses scandal for claiming on personal books and journals,^[8] and for claiming the maximum second home entitlement of £24,006 in the period 2008–09.^[9] 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.^[10] His 2008/09 expenses were ranked 621st out of 645 in descending order of cost to the tax payer.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[11]

References

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Andrew Robathan MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Andrew Robathan MP
• Biography
• South Leicestershire Conservative Association
• BBC Politics page

News items

• Leicestershire education in March 2003