Andrew Robert George Robathan (born 17 July 1951) is a British Conservative politician, and Member of Parliament for Blaby in Leicestershire. July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Blaby is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Leicestershire (abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ...

A former officer in the Coldstream Guards and the SAS, Robathan was first elected as MP for Blaby in 1992 succeeding Nigel Lawson, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer. Blaby is a safe seat for the Conservatives but Robathan's majority is yet to reach the heights of the 1992 election when his majority was over 25,000. This is, in part, due to boundary changes in 1997 but also to a rise in Liberal Democrat support within the constituency. In the past two elections, Robathan has faced J. David Morgan of the Labour Party but his impact has been negligible. The Coldstream Guards is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division. ... // SAS is a three-letter acronym which may refer to various groups, things, and people. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The Right Honourable Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC (born March 11, 1932), a British politician, was Chancellor of the Exchequer between June 1983 and October 1989. ... The Rt. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

Robathan is in many ways a typical Conservative MP of the old school: public-school and Oxford educated, a former army officer, holding deeply Euro-Sceptic and conservative views. Nevertheless, he has a passion for the environment and is deeply committed to International Development, the select committee for which department he was a leading member from 1997-2001. The goal of international development is to alleviate poverty among citizens of developing countries. ... A Select Committee of the British Parliament is a committee made up of a small number of members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues. ...

He has also taken a very personal interest in the affairs of John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister. Their mutual antagonism is legend and is not helped by Robathan's hand in reporting Prescott to the Commissioner for Public 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. Rt. ... A Deputy Prime Minister is the deputy of a Prime Minister, and a member of a nations cabinet. ... RMT is an acronym for: National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Recovered Memory Therapy This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... For the village in Bedfordshire, see Clapham, Bedfordshire. ...

Robathan's Parliamentary career has been steady rather than spectacular. He was a mildly rebellious, John Redwood-backing PPS 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, after a surprisingly long wait, as Trade and Industry Spokesman in 2000. John Redwood The Right Honourable Dr John Alan Redwood (born June 15, 1951 in Dover, Kent) is a British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament for Wokingham and Shadow Secretary of State for Deregulation in the Shadow Cabinet. ... PPS may stand for: The PPSh Type 41 soviet WWII era submachine gun designed by Shpagin Parliamentary Private Secretary The chemical poly(p-phenylene sulfide) Polska Partia Socjalistyczna or Polish Socialist Party Partido Popular Socialista or Brazils Peoples Socialist Party Purchasing Power Standard This is a disambiguation page... (Redirected from 1997 general election) The 1 May 1997 UK general election brought the first change in UK Government for 18 years. ...

In the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election, Robathan was a keen supporter of Michael Portillo which surprised many who thought he would back Iain Duncan Smith especially given their Guards background. Unhappy with Duncan Smith's leadership he is believed - although this has not been confirmed - to have been a leading light in the campaign to replace Duncan Smith in 2003 which may explain why he was not originally given a front-bench post by Michael Howard. It was suggested that Howard excluded him to mollify an unhappy and hurt Duncan Smith. Nevertheless, after 6 months on the backbenches, Robathan was appointed Commons Liason to the Lords and then a defence spokesman in which capacity he fought the 2005 General Election. Rt. ... Rt. ... The Rt. ...

In the 2005 Conservative leadership election, Robathan was one of the very first MPs to declare his support for David Cameron and he was instrumental in persuading many right-wingers in the party to back Cameron. He was rewarded with one of only five paid posts in opposition, Opposition Deputy Chief (and Pairing) Whip. (The other paid posts are Leader of HM Opposition, Leader of HM Opposition in the Lords, Lords Chief Whip, Commons Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip). David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician, Leader of the Conservative Party, and Leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons. ...

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Andrew Robathan MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Andrew Robathan MP