Profile: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, KT, GCMG, PC, Hon FRSE
Lord (George Islay MacNeill) Robertson is Deputy Chairman of TNK-BP, and Senior International Adviser to Cable and Wireless plc. He was NATO Secretary General from 1999-2003 and UK Defence Secretary from 1997-1999. He was Member of Parliament for Hamilton and Hamilton South from 1978-1999.
He was born in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland and educated at Dunoon Grammar School and the University of Dundee.
From 1969-1978 he was Scottish Organiser with the GMB trade union. From 1979-1993 he held senior Opposition roles including 11 years on Foreign Affairs and in particular Europe. In 1993 he was elected to the Shadow Cabinet and served as Principal Opposition Spokesman on Scotland.
He was Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party in 1977, served on the Board of the Scottish Development Agency, the Board of Governors of the Scottish Police College, as Vice Chairman of the British Council and Deputy Chairman of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
He was appointed the United Kingdom Defence Secretary in 1997. In October 1999 he was appointed 10th Secretary General of NATO and elevated to the House of Lords.
Lord Robertson was appointed to Her Majesty’s Privy Council in 1997, appointed by the Queen as a Knight of the Thistle (KT), and awarded the GCMG (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 2004. He was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003, and has been awarded the highest national honours from many countries. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2003 and has thirteen Honorary Doctorates. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling
He is a Non Executive Director of The Weir Group plc and Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd., an adviser to Englefield Capital, and The Cohen Group (USA). He served on the Smiths Group Board, 2004-2006. He is Joint President of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and of the UK/Russia Roundtable, an Elder Brother of Trinity House, is Chairman of the Commission on Global Road Safety, Co-Chairman of the Commission on National Security in the 21st Century and Chairman of the Council of Management of the Ditchley Foundation. He is Honorary Regimental Colonel of the London Scottish (Volunteers).