John Robertson (Glasgow Politician) - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

He joined the Labour Party in 1984 and was first elected to parliament in 2000, at a by-election on 23 November following the death of Donald Dewar, the First Minister of Scotland. He was re-elected at the 2001 election, and after constituency boundaries were redrawn for the 2005 election, he was returned for the larger constituency of Glasgow North West.

In November 2008, Robertson was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments.

John Robertson MP has rebelled against the Government on three occasions, notably on the main vote prior to the Iraq War. The other occasions were on the declassification of cannabis from a class B to class C drug, something which he has subsequently spoke out on. The only other occasion was over the increase of the number of MSPs at the Scottish Parliament during the Scotland Parliament Bill.

He is currently Chair All Party Parliamentary Nuclear Energy Group and Chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Communications (apComms) and a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Nuclear Energy Group, Chair of All Party Parliamentary Music Groups, Chair All Party Parliamentary Group on Nigeria and Angola.

He is a "strong advocate for the place of nuclear power as part of a balanced energy mix in the UK", saying that it provides "not only the cheapest low-carbon energy and therefore a significant opportunity to meet carbon emissions targets, but also with much greater energy security".