Full name:The Right Hon. Robert Finlayson Cook MP.
Homeland: MP for Edinburgh Central, 1974-83; MP for Livingston 1983-present.
Caste: Free thinking, intellectual, left wing, Labourite.
Religion: Multilateralism, social liberalism, constitutional reform.

Key Jobs: Shadow Health Secretary 1989-92; Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary 1992-94; Shadow Foreign Secretary 1994-97; Foreign Secretary 1997-2001; Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, 2001-2003.

Current Occupation: Government backbencher. Since his resignation from the front bench over the Iraq war in March 2003, Robin has been outspoken in his opposition to certain government policies. However, he remains a Labour man at heart and recently toured Britain's mosques to persuade British Muslims that the party was still on their side.

They Work For You: Robin thinks government should belong to the people. Criticial of suggestions that Parliamentary security should be stepped up, he said that the "top priority for parliament is to connect with the people who elect it. That will only be possible if MPs work and live in the same society and share the same risks as the people they represent" (Independent, 17/09/04).

Cook also fought for a fully elected upper house, voting against Blair's idea of an all-appointed Lords: "If we are going to have a parliament that belongs to the people, the people have to have a say in who goes into the second chamber". Otherwise, he stated, you would simply move "from the 15th century principle of hereditaries to the 18th century principle of patronage" (Guardian, 11/03/04).

The Rights Of Man: Robin may be a standard bearer for the left, but he has worked to protect the rights of minorities at both ends of the political spectrum. He has voted for the right of gay couples to adopt, and against a complete ban on fox hunting.

Remember WMD?: Robin made his name with his attack on the Major government over the 1996 Scott report, which revealed that ministers had misled the public and turned a blind eye to the "Arms to Iraq" scandal. He demanded the resignation of Treasury Minister William Waldegrave, and attacked the government for costing British taxpayers £700m. "Yet no-one is going to go. There are to be no regrets, no resignations . . . There was a time when insisting on individual responsibility and upholding the sovereignty of Parliament would have been seen as Conservative values." The "limpits stuck to the Treasury bench" were speechless. All that, and he had only had three hours to study the report. The Spectator named him "debater of the year" (Independent, 27/02/96).

The Alliance: Robin is a supporter of a Lib-Lab pact, and thinks that Labour should be less confrontational with other parties. "Where the parties disagree, we should say so," he argues. "But the bigger the ground on which we can agree, the more opportunity we have for progress."

The Great Reformer: Robin feels saddened by the decline in female MPs since 1997. "We will only get more women when we make it possible for them to be members of parliament and members of a family" (Sunday Times, 4/11/01). To that end, while Leader of the House, he reformed the Commons hours to include morning sittings and to end business at 7.30pm. Sadly, his other plans to make select committees independent of the whips, allowing MPs greater scrutiny over government bills, failed to pass the Commons, despite a free vote. Many Labour MPs, tribal to the last, could not accept a proposal that gave opposition MPs a veto over Labour's choice of committee members (Guardian, 16/05/02).

Outvoted: Robin also advocates reforming the way we choose our MPs. In 1998, he suggested that the referendum on the issue, promised in the 1997 manifesto, should be held before the next election. He also supports Proportional Representation and, while there are arguments about its effectiveness as an electoral system, he has good reasons for disliking first-past-the-post, largely because he disagrees with "the style of government which was followed in the 1980s in which you got elected to power and ran your programme through Parliament with your majority, regardless of what anybody thought." (BBC News online, 29/09/98).

Resolutions: Robin notes that his career in government has been symmetrical. "I gained my reputation on the issue of Iraq and I have left the Government over the issue of Iraq" (Observer, 23/03/03). On 17 March 2003, he resigned as Leader of the House on the principle that "I can't accept collective responsibility for the decision to commit Britain to military action without international agreement or domestic support". Andrew Marr called his speech "one of the most brilliant resignation speeches in modern British politics" (BBC News Online, 17/03/03). The House of Commons gave him a standing ovation. Yet Robin did not use the issue to attack his former colleagues. Instead, he commended their efforts to get a second UN resolution. All this was a whole lot more dignified than Clare Short's series of humiliating u-turns.

The Times They Are A Changing: Robin may be a man of principle, but his principles have changed a lot over the years. In the early eighties, he was on Labour's unilateralist, Eurosceptic and Keynesian left. By the mid-nineties, he had joined Blair and Mandelson's business friendly New Labour project, voted for abolishing clause IV and suggested that Britain should join the Euro. In 1998, he voted for military strikes on Iraq and, three years later, he voted in favour of the government's right to detain foreign terrorists without trial. Pragmatic, or power-hungry?

High Fidelity: Robin's personal life came under heavy scrutiny in 1997 when the News of the World published details of his affair with secretary (now wife) Gaynor Regan. Robin found out at Heathrow Airport, just about to go on holiday with his wife Margaret. Urged by Alistair Campbell to make a quick decision, he told her that their marriage was over and left. Margaret got some small revenge in her 1999 book, A Slight and Delicate Creature, which portrayed Robin as a depressive that drank heavily. (BBC News, 10/01/99)

The Diplomat, At Home . . . : Robin has a great talent for interpersonal conflict. The BBC's Nick Assinder has implied that Robin's "perpetually exasperated 'why do I have to explain what I am doing to this idiot' tone of voice hasn't endeared him to either his colleagues or the media" (BBC New Online, 11/6/99). Andrew Roth noted Robin's condescending habit of treating former defence secretary George Robertson "almost as a junior minister".

Again, Robin's ex wife claims that he had "absolutely no natural courtesy or sympathy and no awareness of his lack of these qualities". When he told her the marriage was over, she asked what he would do if she committed suicide. "I should, of course, be sorry," he replied. Robin also has a long-standing rivalry with Gordon Brown, and there are rumours that he goes into a depression whenever the Chancellor is doing well, "a mood his officials have nicknamed 'Brown Dog'" (Andrew Roth, Guardian Unlimited, 19/03/01).

. . . And Abroad: Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind suggested that Robin lacked the sensitivity to handle the foreign office (BBC News Online, 12/05/98). It is true that, during his first year in office, Robin did exhibit a penchant for turning ceremonial tours into PR disasters.

In 1997, on the Queen's south Asian tour celebrating 50 years of independence, he offered to mediate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Indian PM Inder Kumar Gujral retorted that Britain was a "third rate power poking its nose in" (Guardian Unlimited, 19/03/01). The following March, Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled an official dinner after Cook scheduled a meeting with a Palestinian official in Arab East Jerusalem. Anglo-Israeli relations only recovered after Cook cancelled the meeting (BBC News Online, 18/03/98).

Ethical Problems: When Robin became foreign secretary in 1997, reports suggested that he would give Britain an "ethical foreign policy". He did sometimes succeeded in using Britain as a force for good. He includes among his greatest achievements "breaking the deadlock in the Lockerbie case; defending Kosovo; saving lives and relieving suffering in Sierra Leone; contributing to the fall of Milosevic" (Guardian Unlimited, Ask Aristotle).

However, his record was far from perfect. In 1998, he sanctioned the sale of 16 jet fighters to Indonesia. When campaigners claimed they would be used against East Timor, Robin said he could not revoke existing contracts (BBC News Online, 12/05/98). He also backed the US decision to renew China's trade benefits (Andrew Roth, Guardian Unimited, 19/03/01). Even in Sierra Leone, there were allegations that British company Sandline had imported weapons in contravention of a UN embargo. The company claimed they had ministerial permission, although the Legg report later found otherwise. Robin later denied ever having used the phrase "ethical foreign policy" (BBC News Online, 12/11/98).

Genetically Challenged: Robin explained his decision not to stand for the party leadership in 1994 as being because "I'm not good looking enough to be party leader" (BBC News Online, 17/03/03). Others concurred: William Russell noted that "Tony Blair may look like a male model for Burtons, and John Prescott like a night-club bouncer, and still they are allowed to stand for the Labour leadership, while Robin Cook, who looks like a garden gnome, is considered visually challenged and unacceptable". Russell went on to back up these charges by pointing out that seven out of ten women in the Parliamentary Press Gallery did not fancy him (Glasgow Herald, 9/07/94).

Single Entendre: However, his appearance never seems to have impaired Robin's success with women. This may be why David Dimbleby, during a 2003 episode of Question Time, managed to call him "Robin Cock". A distinctly peeved looking Robin began his response "Yes, David Bumbleby". You can see why the Spectator gave him that prize.

They Wrecked Everything, Didn't They?: Margaret Cook, a doctor, said that the Tories were partly responsible for the collapse of her marriage. The introduction of a free market within the NHS meant that consultants were working such long hours that she never saw her husband (Sunday Times, 21/12/97). On Have I Got News for You, Ian Hislop found this hilarious.

This Court believes Robin Cook to be a man that genuinely attempts to stand by his principles. He is probably the greatest intellectual resource the Labour party has today. The creation of a progressive society is the focus of his policies, all founded upon the admirable belief that the government should work for the people. However, his interpersonal relations could use more than a little work, and he has exhibited naivety about the realities of international politics.

You have heard the evidence from both sides. It is now the responsibility of you, the Jury, to pass verdict on the accused. His fate is in your hands.

Robert "Robin" Finlayson Cook was born in Bellshill, central Scotland, in 1946. He studied English literature at Edinburgh University, before working as a tutor, adult education organiser and writer. He was elected to Edinburgh council in 1971, and became Labour MP for Edinburgh Central in 1974.

Robin began his Parliamentary Career on the left of the Labour party, supporting public ownership, unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the European Community. He was a leading "anti" during the 1979 Scottish referendum on devolution, beginning a long standing rivalry with Gordon Brown, a leading "pro".

Following a 1983 redrawing of constituency boundaries, Robin became MP for Livingston, a position he still holds today. He was campaign organiser for Neil Kinnock's 1983 leadership campaign, a role he reprised for John Smith in 1992. After holding several positions as opposition spokesman, he joined the shadow cabinet as Shadow Health Secretary in 1992, and later became shadow Trade and Industry Secretary, and Shadow Foreign Secretary.

As New Labour's first Foreign Secretary in 1997, Robin promised an ethical foreign policy; conflicts in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and bombing raids in Iraq dominated his time in office. In a surprise move, he was 'demoted' to Leader of the House of Commons in 2001, but enjoyed the opportunities for Parliamentary Reform the role afforded.

Due to his objections to the Iraq War, Robin resigned from the government in March 2003. He remained President of the party of European Socialists until April 2004, and is still President of the Foreign Policy Centre. Today, he is a vocal backbencher, a columnist for the Independent and enjoys horse racing.