Constituency : Caithness and Sutherland 1966-81 ( Labour ), 1981-88 ( SDP ), 1988-2001
On 2 March 1981 the Social Democratic Party was formally launched and Robert was one of the initial clutch of Labour MPs who signed up to it.
Robert was the son of an eminent gynaecologist. He was educated at Glasgow Academy and Oxford. He became a barrister, specialising in international law. He took Caithness and Sutherland from George Mackie in 1966 by 64 votes. He was PPS to the Commonwealth Secretary in Wilson's government. He held Mackie off again in 1970 with an increased majority. He held the seat comfortably in the next three elections with a different party coming second each time. The Liberals didn't contest the seat in 1979. Robert was a junior minister in the Labour government of 1974-79 in the Prices and Consumer Protection Department.
With the Douneray plant in his constituency, Robert was obliged to defend nuclear power.
Robert was the main architect of the SDP's constitution and subsequently that of the Liberal Democrats. He was involved in the Alliance seat allocations in Scotland.
Robert was one of only four defecting MPs to hold his seat in 1983 and did so easily with a majority of nearly 7,000. He had a rough time in Parliament as Dennis Skinner and his cronies regularly heckled his speeches making him lose his thread.
Robert increased his majority in 1987. He initially supported David Owen's resistance to Liberal pressure to merge but Charles Kennedy persuaded him to become leader of the party
and take control of the negotiations when Owen resigned.
Robert took a lot of flack from the media for his lack of charisma and poor handling of the negotiations during which he burst into tears and would have quit were it not for Liberal MPs blocking his exit. He was also partly responsible for the infamous "dead parrot" document, defending the policy of putting VAT on childrens' clothes for example.
When the terms were finally agreed, Robert and Charles Kennedy went round to Owen's house to try and sell him the deal but got a frosty reception. Robert was interim leader of the Liberal Democrats with David Steel until Paddy Ashdown was elected. He became a spokesman with various briefs and was party president from 1994 to 1998.
Robert came under more pressure in 1997 when boundary changes enabled Labour to make a decent challenge but he still had a majority of over 2,000. He was co-chairman with Robin Cook on the Joint Consultative Committee with Labour on constitutional reform.
Robert stood down in 2001 and was elevated to the Lords where he was Cabinet Office and Scotland spokesman until 2015.
Robert is an accomplished violinist.
He is now 82.
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