George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

The Right Honourable The Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT GCMG PC FRSA FRSE
Official portrait, 2020
10th Secretary General of NATO
In office 14 October 1999 – 17 December 2003
Deputy	Sergio Balanzino Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo
Preceded by	Javier Solana
Succeeded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Secretary of State for Defence
In office 3 May 1997 – 11 October 1999
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Michael Portillo
Succeeded by	Geoff Hoon
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 21 October 1993 – 2 May 1997
Leader	John Smith Margaret Beckett (acting) Tony Blair
Shadowing	Ian Lang Michael Forsyth
Preceded by	Tom Clarke
Succeeded by	Jacqui Lait (2001)
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 February 2000 Life peerage
Member of Parliament for Hamilton South Hamilton (1978–1997)
In office 31 May 1978 – 24 August 1999
Preceded by	Alexander Wilson
Succeeded by	William Tynan
Personal details
Born	George Islay MacNeill Robertson (1946-04-12) 12 April 1946 (age 78) Port Ellen, Argyll, Scotland
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Sandra Wallace ​ (m. 1970)​
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Dundee

George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen (born 12 April 1946) is a British politician of the Labour Party who was the 10th Secretary General of NATO from 1999 to 2003; he succeeded Javier Solana. He was Secretary of State for Defence from 1997 to 1999, before becoming a life peer as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, of Islay in Argyll and Bute, on 24 August 1999.^[1][2]

Born in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland, the son of George Philip Robertson (1916–2002), a policeman, and Marion Isabella Robertson née MacNeill (1913–1996). His mother taught French and German.^[3] His maternal grandfather Malcolm McNeill was the police sergeant at Bowmore during World War One, and wrote about the kindness of local people in shipwreck tragedies of SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto.^[4] Robertson was educated at Dunoon Grammar School and studied economics at Queen's College, Dundee. When he was 15 years of age, he was involved with protests against US nuclear submarines docking in Scotland.^[5]

During Robertson's time at Queen's College it broke away from the University of St Andrews to become the University of Dundee, of which Robertson was one of the first graduates (MA, 1968), and one of a minority of graduates that year who opted to take a Dundee, rather than a St Andrews, degree.^[6][7] During his time at University he played a full part in student life. He wrote a column for the student newspaper Annasach, launched in 1967, and took an active role in student protests.^[6][8][9] Robertson used his newspaper column to back the new University and encouraged his fellow students to take a University of Dundee degree (students who had started before 1967 could opt to take a degree from either the University of Dundee or the University of St Andrews).^[9] Robertson is now the Chancellor of the University of Dundee.

In 1968, Robertson was one of a number of Dundee students to invade the pitch during a rugby match at St Andrews involving a team from the Orange Free State to protest against apartheid.^[10] The same year he organised a 24-hour work-in by students in the university library in opposition to proposed cuts by the government in student grants.^[10]

Robertson married Sandra Wallace on 1 June 1970. They have two sons and a daughter.^[11] Robertson supports Hamilton Academical football club.^[12]

Robertson survived a serious car crash on 19 January 1976^[13][14] when a Navy Land Rover, which was carrying 100 lb (45 kg) of gelignite and a box of detonators, hit his car head-on in the Drumochter Pass, one mile south of Dalwhinnie leaving him with two injured knees and a broken jaw. In May 1976 the driver of the Land Rover was found guilty of careless driving.^[13] Robertson was wearing a seat belt at the time and attributed his survival to this.^[15]

Robertson entered the House of Commons as a Labour MP in 1978, having won the Hamilton by-election in May of that year, caused by the death of the incumbent Labour MP Alex Wilson that March. Margo MacDonald of the SNP came second. Robertson retained the constituency with an increased majority and obtained 51% of the overall vote. He was re-elected to Parliament at five subsequent general elections, was Chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland, and was appointed to the Privy Council.^[16]

After Labour won the 1997 general election, Robertson was appointed Secretary of State for Defence. He initiated the Strategic Defence Review,^[17] which was completed in 1998, presenting a coherent political and strategic narrative themed as 'a force for good'. The review created the Joint Rapid Reaction Force and inaugurated the ambitious project to build two new large aircraft carriers for force projection, the Queen Elizabeth-class, and its new warplanes, symbolising the new government's commitment to defence. However the new Labour government had come to power promising to follow the previous Conservative government's spending plans for its first two years, and this required a defence budget cut of £2 billion. Though the defence budget was subsequently expanded, it was not sufficient for the increased ambitions of the review. Tom Bower, in his book on that government, argued that "Robertson had created an unaffordable dream in 1998."^[18][19]

In 1999, Robertson was appointed Secretary General of NATO after the German defence minister Rudolf Scharping declined to the position, and doubts were raised about the suitability of the British politician and former Royal Marine Paddy Ashdown (at that time the outgoing leader of the Liberal Democrats) due to his never having held a position in government.^[20][21][22]

Robertson was the Secretary General of NATO at the time of the United States invasion of Afghanistan.^[23] In October 2001, NATO invoked Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty for the first time in its history.^[24]

In December 2002, before the US-led invasion of Iraq, Robertson declared that NATO had a "moral obligation" to support the United States if it attacked Iraq.^[25]

In September 2022, during the 7th month of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, interviewed by Channel 4 about his nine meetings with Vladimir Putin, Robertson said, "At the first meeting (in Moscow, Oct 2001) Vladimir Putin clearly said, 'I WANT RUSSIA TO BE PART OF WESTERN EUROPE...at the 2nd meeting (in Brussels) he said..'WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO INVITE RUSSIA TO JOIN NATO?'...I started to sort of reach out and engage them in so many activities that they basically couldn't fight with us.. but after I left NATO (in Dec 2003), the American administration, the Bush administration (during their own illegal war on Iraq opposed by Putin), lost any interest basically in doing business with Russia, they saw it as a threat..they didn't really want to make it part of the overall partnership. I think we missed an opportunity at that time because I think it's what he (Putin) wanted, and we could have grabbed hold of him!" ^[26][27][28]

In 1995, Robertson, while he was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland said, "Devolution will kill Nationalism stone dead".^[29] This quote was designed to assuage hopes that devolution would provide a greater platform for the Scottish National Party (SNP). Robertson's quote is frequently recalled, usually in a mocking fashion, since the SNP won Scottish Parliament elections in 2007,^[29][30] 2011,^[31][32] 2016 and 2021.

Robertson's three children are former pupils of the school in Dunblane where gunman Thomas Hamilton murdered 16 children and their teacher in 1996. After the massacre, Robertson, a long-time resident of the town, acted as a spokesman for the victims' families. He was also a key figure in the subsequent campaign that led to the ban on handguns in Great Britain.^[33]

In 2003, the Sunday Herald newspaper ran an article entitled "Should the Dunblane dossier be kept secret?", a reference to documents relating to the Cullen Inquiry into the massacre which are to remain classified for 100 years. In a discussion board on the newspaper's website, anonymous contributors claimed that Robertson had signed a recommendation for a gun licence for Thomas Hamilton in his capacity as Hamilton's MP. However, Robertson had never been the gunman's MP, and the claims were unfounded. Robertson sued the Sunday Herald and the paper settled by paying him a five-figure sum plus costs. A subsequent action by Robertson, related to the terms of the newspaper's apology, was unsuccessful. The first case became an important test case as to whether publishers can be held responsible for comments posted on their websites.^[34][35]

Robertson opposed Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum. In an article in The Washington Post, he wrote: "The residual United Kingdom would still be a major player in the world, but upon losing a third of its land mass, 5 million of its population and a huge amount of credibility, its global standing would inevitably diminish."^[36]

He said in a speech to the Brookings Institution on 8 April 2014: "The loudest cheers for the break-up of Britain would be from our adversaries and from our enemies. For the second military power in the west to shatter this year would be cataclysmic in geo-political terms."^[37] Robertson also likened the efforts of Unionists to keep Scotland tied to the UK with those of Abraham Lincoln's fight against slavery when he stated, "they might look more relevantly at the Civil War where hundreds of thousands of Americans perished in a war to keep the new Union together. To Lincoln and his compatriots the Union was so precious, so important, and its integrity so valuable that rivers of blood would be spilt to keep it together."^[38]

Robertson has received numerous honours (including a total of 12 Honorary doctorates from various universities).

In addition, he is a Senior Counsellor at The Cohen Group, a consulting firm in Washington D.C. that provides advice and assistance in marketing and regulatory affairs.

In August 2021, he criticised the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, saying that "We never really took Afghanistan and the conflict there with the seriousness that it demanded."^[23]

On 16 July 2024, the newly elected Labour government of Keir Starmer announced the commencement of a defence review, to be led by Robertson.^[39]

• 1968–1978, Official of the GMB Union for the Scottish whisky industry.
• 1978–1999, Member of the British House of Commons, member for Hamilton or Hamilton South, elected six times.
• 1979, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Social Services.
• 1979–??, Opposition Spokesman on Scottish Affairs.
• 19??–82, Opposition Spokesman on Defence.
• 1982–93, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs.
• 1983–93, Chief Opposition Spokesman on Europe.
• 1993–97, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.
• May 1997, Appointed to the Privy Council
• May 1997 – October 1999, Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom
• October 1999 – January 2004, 10th Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the North Atlantic Council.

• Chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland
• Vice-chairman of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy
• Vice-chairman of the British Council for nine years
• Vice-chairman of the Britain-Russia Centre
• Member of the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) seven years, now President
• Member of the Pilgrims Society
• Governor of the Ditchley Foundation
• Trustee of the 21st Century Trust
• Patron to the British-American Project
• Currently serves on the board of Cable & Wireless International
• Currently serves on the board of The Weir Group PLC
• Currently serves on the board of The TNK-BP
• Currently serves on the Global Panel Foundation|Global Panel America Advisory Board
• Currently a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.^[40]
• Hon president of the Clan Donnachaidh Society^[41]
• Chancellor of the University of Dundee

Orders

• 2003 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
• 30 November 2004 Knight of the Order of the Thistle (KT)

Foreign Honours

• 1991 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2000 Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania
• 8 September 2003 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
• 19 November 2003 Grand Cross of the Order of Christ
• 12 November 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom
• 1 December 2003 – Grand Order of King Petar Krešimir IV
• 2004 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana^[42]
• 1 July 2016 Order of St. George

Organisation

• 1993 joint Parliamentarian of the Year for his role in the Maastricht Treaty ratification
• 2000 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by General Joseph Ralston, USAF, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.^[43]
• 2003 Atlantic Solidarity Award bestowed by the Manfred Wörner Foundation
• 4th recipient of the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award jointly presented by the Prague Society and Global Panel Foundation
• Elder Brother of Trinity House

Appointments

• 24 August 1999 life peer as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

Personal

• Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom (PC)

Fellowships

• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE)

Academic

• 5 July 2006 Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) from the University of Paisley.^[44]
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Dundee
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bradford
• Honorary Doctorate from Cranfield University (Royal Military College of Science)
• Honorary Doctorate from the Baku State University

Appointments

• Honorary Regimental Colonel of the London Scottish (Volunteers)

Coat of arms of George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

Crest An oyster-catcher statant Proper. Escutcheon Per chevron Gules and Argent on a chevron counter-compony Sable and the second between in chief a cinquefoil Ermine between two wolves' heads erased of the second and in base a representation of the Port Ellen lighthouse Proper a portcullis chained of the third. Supporters Dexter a blackfaced tup sinister a Highland cow both Proper. Motto Furachas Is Duchas[45]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen.

• Lord Robertson of Port Ellen profile, www.parliament.uk
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Robertson
• NATO Declassified – Lord Robertson (biography)
• Appearances on C-SPAN