George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock

George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock (born 21 January 1942) is a British politician and life peer who served as Minister of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2002.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh, where he was Senior President of the Students' Representative Council in 1963.

He later became the full-time President of the Scottish Union of Students, after which he was elected as a City of Edinburgh district councillor for the Sighthill ward and then as a member of Lothian Regional Council.

After unsuccessfully contesting Edinburgh West in 1970 and Edinburgh Pentlands in October 1974, he was elected to represent South Ayrshire in parliament at the 1979 general election and to represent Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley at the 1983 general election following boundary changes.

Before gaining election to the House of Commons, Foulkes unsuccessfully contested Edinburgh West in 1970, being beaten by the Conservative Party candidate Anthony Stodart.

In October 1974, he stood for Edinburgh Pentlands but was beaten by Malcolm Rifkind.

A member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, formerly South Ayrshire, from 1979 to 2005.

He was first elected in the 1979 general election, as Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire.

In 1981, Foulkes drafted a political bill called the "Control of Space Invaders (and other Electronic Games) Bill" in an attempt to ban the game for its "addictive properties" and for causing "deviancy".

The bill was debated and only narrowly defeated in parliament by 114 to 94 votes.

He introduced the first-ever proposals for a smoking ban in public places in 1982 and legislation against age discrimination in 1985, both through private member's bills.

Appointed to the opposition frontbench in 1983, Foulkes served as a shadow Europe minister, shadow foreign and Commonwealth affairs minister and shadow defence minister respectively.

After the constituency's abolition in boundary changes, he was elected in the 1983 general election for the new constituency of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley.

After serving on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Foulkes was appointed to the Opposition frontbench in 1983, serving as a shadow Europe minister and later a shadow foreign and Commonwealth affairs minister.

A supporter of Scottish devolution, he was involved in the drafting of "A Claim of Right for Scotland" in 1988.

In 1992, he was made Shadow Minister for Defence, Disarmament and Arms Control.

He was forced to resign from the latter role in 1993, after striking a police officer and being convicted of being drunk and disorderly.

He was forced to resign in 1993, after being convicted of being drunk and disorderly during an incident in which he struck a police officer.

He rejoined the frontbench in 1994 as a shadow overseas aid minister.

He returned to the frontbench in 1994, serving as deputy to Overseas Aid spokespersons Joan Lestor and Clare Short until 1997.

After the Labour Party won the 1997 general election, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2001 and Minister of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2002.

When Labour won the general election in 1997, Foulkes was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the new Department for International Development.

He continued to be an "ultra loyalist" to the 1997–2010 Labour government.

He was then Minister of State for Scotland from 2001 until a May 2002 cabinet reshuffle.

He stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election.

While serving as a delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Foulkes joined the House of Lords in June 2005 and was appointed to the Privy Council in July.

He stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election.

On 13 May 2005, it was announced that Foulkes was to receive a life peerage.

On 16 June 2005, he was created Baron Foulkes of Cumnock, of Cumnock in East Ayrshire.

He was made a member of the Privy Council in July of that year.

He was later a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the Lothians region, from 2007 to 2011.

Born in Shropshire in England, Foulkes was educated at Keith Grammar School in Moray and privately at The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School near London, and studied Psychology at the University of Edinburgh.

He served as President of the Scottish Union of Students before being elected to City of Edinburgh District Council and Lothian Regional Council.

Elected at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election on the Lothians regional list, he was critical of the conduct of the minority Scottish National Party (SNP) government and campaigned for presumed consent for organ donation.

During the 2009 expenses controversy, he accused presenters who questioned MPs' expenses of undermining democracy.

He was a critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for failing to tackle antisemitism in the party and made calls for Richard Leonard to resign as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party.

Foulkes was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, and raised in Banffshire, later Moray, where he was educated at the state secondary Keith Grammar School.

He later attended the independent, fee-paying Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in West Hampstead.

He stood down from the Scottish Parliament at the 2011 election.

In the Lords, he continued to be loyal to the New Labour government and supported the ongoing Iraq War and proposals for mandatory identity cards.