Constituency : West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 1997-2015
The 1997 election was a game changer for the Liberal Democrats. A secret deal with Labour to encourage tactical voting meant the party more than doubled its 1992 total of seats, yielding the highest number of MPs since 1930. However, the landslide win for Tony Blair's Labour meant that any hopes of realignment were dashed.
Sir Robert avenged Nicol Stephens's defeat by taking the successor seat from the Tories.
Sir Robert was a Scottish baronet. His grandfather had been a Unionist MP. He was educated at Merchant Taylors School, London and the University of Aberdeen. He joined the SDP before the merger and contested Aberdeen North in 1987, holding onto second place. He became an Aberdeenshire councillor and Convener of the Grampian Police Board.
Sir Robert 's spokesmanships included education and energy and he later became deputy chief whip. He took over as interim chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Committee in 2013.
In 2013 Sir Robert was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease but he still stood for re-election in 2015. He was pushed into third place behind the SNP and the Tories.
Robert is keen on hill walking and sailing.
He is now 61.
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