Robin Cook

Robin Cook
Official portrait, 2000
President of the Party of European Socialists
In office
11 June 2001 – 24 July 2004
Preceded byRudolf Scharping
Succeeded byPoul Nyrup Rasmussen
In office
8 June 2001 – 17 March 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byMargaret Beckett
Succeeded byJohn Reid
Foreign Secretary
In office
2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byMalcolm Rifkind
Succeeded byJack Straw
Shadow Cabinet posts
Shadow Foreign Secretary
In office
20 October 1994 – 2 May 1997
LeaderTony Blair
Preceded byJack Cunningham
Succeeded byJohn Major
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
In office
18 July 1992 – 20 October 1994
Leader
Preceded byGordon Brown
Succeeded byJack Cunningham
Shadow Secretary of State for Health[a]
In office
2 November 1989 – 18 July 1992
LeaderNeil Kinnock
Preceded byMichael Meacher
Succeeded byDavid Blunkett
Parliamentary offices
Member of Parliament
for Livingston
In office
9 June 1983 – 6 August 2005
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byJim Devine
Member of Parliament
for Edinburgh Central
In office
28 February 1974 – 13 May 1983
Preceded byTom Oswald
Succeeded byAlexander Fletcher
Personal details
Born
Robert Finlayson Cook

(1946-02-28)28 February 1946
Bellshill, Scotland
Died6 August 2005(2005-08-06) (aged 59)
Inverness, Scotland
Resting placeGrange Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyLabour
Spouses
  • Margaret Whitmore
    (m. 1969; div. 1998)
  • Gaynor Regan
    (m. 1998)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Signature

Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 1946 – 6 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 when he was replaced by Jack Straw. He then served as Leader of the House of Commons from 2001 until 2003.

Cook studied at the University of Edinburgh before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Central in 1974; he switched to the Livingston constituency in 1983. In Parliament, he was known for his debating ability and rapidly rose through the political ranks and ultimately into the Cabinet. As Foreign Secretary, he oversaw British interventions in Kosovo and Sierra Leone.

Cook resigned from his positions as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons on 17 March 2003 in protest against the invasion of Iraq. At the time of his death, he was President of the Foreign Policy Centre and a Vice-President of the America All Party Parliamentary Group and the Global Security and Non-Proliferation All Party Parliamentary Group.


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