Laurence Robertson

Laurence Anthony Robertson (born 29 March 1958) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury since 1997.

Robertson was an unsuccessful candidate when he stood for Bolton Council in the Derby ward in 1983 and in the Burnden ward in 1986.

Before entering Parliament, Robertson held a number of roles which included him working as a charity fundraiser, public relations consultant, company director, factory owner from 1987 to 1988, industrial management consultant from 1983 to 1989, and work study engineer from 1977 to 1983.

At the 1987 general election, Robertson stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in Makerfield, finishing second with 27.3% of the vote behind the Labour candidate Ian McCartney.

From 1988 to 1991, Robertson was Chairman of Governors of a primary school, a visitor for Victim Support Scheme, and the area chairman for the Campaign for Law and Order.

Robertson also stood unsuccessfully in Ashfield at the 1992 general election, finishing second with 32.6% of the vote behind the Labour candidate Geoff Hoon.

At the 1997 general election, Robertson was elected as the Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury, winning with 45.8% of the vote and a majority of 9,234.

Robertson stood on "an unashamedly British ticket, fighting against European federalism and stressing the need for and benefits of preserving the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

He made his maiden speech n 21 May 1997, during the Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Bill, in which he spoke out against devolution.

In May 2001, Robertson ignored James Cran's advice not to publicly express support for John Townend.

Robertson endorsed Townend's controversial remarks about race on BBC's Newsnight saying that Townend's remarks were "basically true" and "having too many people in different multi-racial groups makes society very difficult to manage, especially in certain parts of the country. It is not that easy to manage that kind of society".

Robertson was forced to apologise after being given an ultimatum to either apologise, retract his remarks, and promise not to repeat them or to be stripped of the Conservative party whip.

He was reported to have told colleagues that he received a lot of support, and was told by the chairman of his Tewkesbury constituency that he should not have backed down.

At the 2001 general election, Robertson was re-elected as MP for Tewkesbury with an increased vote share of 46.1% and a decreased majority of 8,663 votes.

After the election, Robertson was appointed an Opposition Whip.

During the expenses scandal, it was flagged that between 2001 and 2011, Robertson had claimed more than £1 million in MP's expenses and criticised plans to overhaul the system of claims for MPs.

In June 2003, he was made Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry.

In November 2003, Robertson was appointed a Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs and from May 2005, he served as the Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland.

Between 2004 and 2005, Robertson led a successful campaign to save Alderman Knight, a local special needs school for children additional learning difficulties, complex needs and Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) from closure.

On 24 March 2005, the Schools Adjudicator ruled that Alderman Knight would close.

During a question to the Minister of Education on the matter of special schools in the House of Commons that day, Robertson accused Minister for Children, Young People and Families Margaret Hodge of providing an "inadequate" and "dishonest" answer after failing to mention the school in her figures.

When ordered by Speaker Michael Martin to withdraw the remark, Robertson declined, stating: "Mr Speaker, I am here to represent my constituents. I will not withdraw that remark."

He was therefore asked to leave the chamber.

Robertson was again re-elected at the 2005 general election, with an increased vote share of 49.1% and an increased majority of 9,892 votes.

Following the 2007 floods in Tewkesbury, Robertson spoke out against building on flood plains.

A member of the Conservative Party, he chaired the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee for seven years, from 2010 to 2017.

Laurence Robertson was born in Bolton, Lancashire.

His father was a miner, a postman, a delivery man then a milkman.

His mother was an office worker in Manchester.

He was educated at St James's C.E. Secondary Modern School and at Farnworth Grammar School, both located in Farnworth.

He the studied at Bolton Institute of Higher Education (now the University of Bolton), gaining a diploma in Management Services.

He was not given a ministerial position in the 2010 Parliament, but served as chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee until July 2017 when Andrew Murrison succeeded Robertson as chair.

At the 2010 general election, Robertson was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 47.2% and a decreased majority of 6,310 votes.

In December 2014, Robertson along with six other male Conservative Party MPs voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.

At the 2015 general election, Robertson was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 54.5% and an increased majority of 21,972 votes.

In March 2016, Robertson was accused of "cash for access" after it was reported that he sponsored a parliamentary pass for a lobbyist, Jennifer Bryant-Pearson, in 2014 whose company paid him £7,500 for consultancy advice in 2009 and 2010.

Robertson was paid between £9,000 and £10,000 a year by the environmental services company Veolia, which is among Bryant-Pearson's major clients.

After the election, Robertson served as chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee until July 2017.

An issue that Robertson raised once again to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in February 2020 following heavy flooding in his constituency.

Robertson is Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Flood Prevention, and continues to lobby the government on the issue of flooding.