Alan West, Baron West of Spithead
Alan William John West, Baron West of Spithead, GCB, DSC, PC (born 21 April 1948) is a retired admiral of the Royal Navy and formerly, from June 2007 to May 2010, a Labour Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the British Home Office with responsibility for security and a security advisor to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Prior to his ministerial appointment, he was First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 2002 to 2006.
The Lord West of Spithead
Professor Graham Baldwin
21 April 1948
London, United Kingdom
3
United Kingdom
1965–2006
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West was born on 21 April 1948 in Lambeth, London, and was educated at Windsor Grammar School and Clydebank High School.[1] He joined Britannia Royal Naval College in 1965 and served in HMS Albion during her standby duty for the Nigerian Civil War and circumnavigated the globe in HMS Whitby, taking part in the Beira Patrol. He was confirmed as a sub-lieutenant on 1 September 1969,[2] and promoted to lieutenant on 1 May 1970.[3] After his command of the Ton-class minesweeper HMS Yarnton in Hong Kong in 1973, he qualified as a principal warfare officer in 1975 and then served as operations officer in the frigate HMS Juno in 1976 and then the frigate HMS Ambuscade in 1977.[1] Promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 April 1978,[4] he attended the Royal Navy Staff College that year and then qualified as an advanced warfare officer before being posted to the destroyer HMS Norfolk in 1979.[1]
In 1980 he was promoted to commander and took command of the frigate HMS Ardent,[1] and deployed to the Indian Ocean taking part in the first Armilla Patrol. In 1982 he laid a wreath off Norway, on the spot inside the Arctic Circle where the previous Ardent had been sunk in 1940 by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Shortly after, the ship deployed to the South Atlantic for the Falklands War,[5] where she was sunk in Falkland Sound on 21 May during the successful retaking of the islands.[6] West was the last to leave the sinking ship and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership.[7] West led the victory parade through the City of London on return from the Falkland Islands. He remains the President of the HMS Ardent Association.[8] He was promoted to captain on 30 June 1985.[9]
In 1986, while working on the Naval Staff at the Ministry of Defence, West left documents detailing large cuts to the Navy on a canal towpath. These documents were recovered and then published by a journalist from The Mail on Sunday. At a subsequent court martial West pleaded guilty to charges of negligence and breaching security.[10] He explained that they had fallen from his coat pocket whilst walking a friend's dog. West was issued with a severe reprimand, the second lightest sentence available. The reprimand was time expired before he became eligible for promotion to flag rank.[11]
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West was installed as the first Chancellor for Solent University (formerly Southampton Institute and Southampton Solent) on 28 June 2006,[23][24] appointed to the board of the Imperial War Museum on 6 July 2006[25] and made chairman of the advisory board of defence contractor QinetiQ in October 2006.[26] West left his role at Southampton Solent University in summer 2018 after the graduation ceremonies.[27]
In April 2010 West also became patron of the Docklands Sinfonia symphony orchestra.[28] In 2014 he presented the 15-part BBC Radio 4 series "Britain at Sea".[29] He has been, since at least November 2014, a member of the Henry Jackson Society's Political Council.[30] He is also a non-executive chairman of Spearfish Maritime Security.[31]
Personal life[edit]
In 1973, West married Rosemary Anne Linington Childs; they have two sons and one daughter.[1] West said that during one overseas posting in a foreign country, the bugging of communications and accommodation was so widespread that Rosemary would say "Goodnight everybody" before turning off the light to sleep.[48]
West has admitted during security vetting to an extramarital affair,[49] and was forced to respond to rumours in 2007 about his friendship with Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA with "I'm not having an affair with her".[49] Newspaper reports at the time said "He always had an eye for beautiful women"[49] and that he was "a bon viveur, fond of good wine, good food and good chat".[50]