Alan West, Baron West of Spithead

Admiral The Right Honourable The Lord West of Spithead GCB DSC PC
Admiral Sir Alan West, then First Sea Lord, is pictured here with the official chart of anchorages for the International Fleet Review
Minister for Security and Counter-Terrorism
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Tony McNulty
Succeeded by	The Baroness Neville-Jones
Chancellor of Southampton Solent University
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 June 2006
Deputy	Van Gore
Personal details
Born	21 April 1948 (1948-04-21) London, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1965–2006
Rank	Admiral
Commands	HMS Ardent Fleet
Battles/wars	Falklands War Iraq War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Cross

Admiral Alan William John West, Baron West of Spithead GCB DSC PC (born 21 April 1948) was, from June 2007 to May 2010, a 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, the professional head of the Royal Navy, from 2002 to 2006. He is the current Chancellor of Southampton Solent University.

Early career in the Royal Navy

Alan William John West was born on 21 April 1948 in Lambeth, London, and was educated at Windsor Grammar School, now known as The Windsor Boys' School and Clydebank High School. He joined Britannia Royal Naval College in 1965 and since served on 14 different ships, commanding three of them. He served in HMS Albion for her standby for Biafran War, circumnavigated the globe in HMS Whitby, taking part in the Beira Patrol. After his command of HMS Yarnton in Hong Kong, he served as operations officer in 2 frigates and a destroyer interspersed with the Lieutenants Greenwich course, PWO course, RN Staff Course, AWO(A) course and fighter controllers course.

At age 32, he was promoted to Commander and took command of the frigate HMS Ardent 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, where she was sunk in Falkland Sound on 21 May during the successful retaking of the islands. West was the last to leave the sinking ship and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership. West led the victory parade through the City of London on return from the Falkland islands. He is the President of the HMS Ardent Association.

The Former First Sea Lord in his capacity as Chancellor of Southampton Solent University with graduating British Merchant Navy Officers in 2011.

Promoted Captain at age 36, he commanded HMS Bristol and the Dartmouth training squadron, led the study into employment of women at sea and spent 3 years as head of naval intelligence rewriting the NATO intelligence Manual after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He then completed Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS), where he produced a Seaford House Paper on why the UK needed a ‘Grand Strategy’.

West became Rear Admiral at 46 as Naval Secretary, responsible for officer appointing and also naval manning and moved its organisation from London to Portsmouth. In February 1996 he became Commander United Kingdom Task Group deploying to the gulf for the first ever UK fighter patrols over Iraq (conducted by Sea Harrier FA2), to the South China Sea to cover the withdrawal from Hong Kong (Operation OceanWave). In October 1997 he was promoted to Vice Admiral and Chief of Defence Intelligence. He was responsible for the move of the Intelligence school from Ashford to Chicksands, and provision of intelligence to the Chiefs of Staff on operations in Sierra Leone, East Timor, Operation Desert Fox in Iraq, and the Kosovo War. West was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 2000. He became a full Admiral in November 2000 when he took up the post of Commander-in-Chief Fleet, NATO Commander-in-Chief East Atlantic and NATO Commander Allied Naval Forces North. West Co-ordinated Naval response to the 9/11 attacks in the North Arabian sea/Afghanistan.

First Sea Lord

The Queen and Admiral Sir Alan West, then First Sea Lord, embarked onboard HMS Endurance during the review of the international fleet

West was appointed as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in September 2002. Admiral West was also a member of the Defence Council and Admiralty Board as well as First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty The Queen. In his role he had overall responsibility for fighting effectiveness and morale of the Naval Service (RN, RM, RFA and medical services) for the successful operations on the US right flank in the invasion of Iraq.

In 2004 he appeared on BBC Radio 4 and spoke about Trafalgar 200. Trafalgar 200 was a celebration for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. It saw an International Fleet in the Solent led by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and by the First Sea Lord. West led the demand by the Royal Navy for a major ceremony. He is credited with persuading the government for making the event include a large scale fleet review. In 2005 he served as the chief mourner at a reenactment of Horatio Nelson's funeral. He set in motion, work to amalgamate the Naval Charities and Naval Museums. He stopped the CVF programme being cancelled and argued strongly against going into Helmand province. In the 2004 New Year Honours list he was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). He completed his term as First Sea Lord on 6 February 2006 and was succeeded by Admiral Sir Jonathon Band.

Post-naval career

West was installed as the first Chancellor for Southampton Solent University (formerly Southampton Institute), on 28 June 2006. In 2006 West was appointed to the board of the Imperial War Museum. In October 2006 West was appointed to chair the advisory board of defence contractor QinetiQ. In April 2010, West became patron of the Docklands Sinfonia symphony orchestra. In 2007 he became President of the Merchant Navy Association.

Political life

On 29 June 2007 West was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the British Home Office, with responsibility for Security in the Administration of Gordon Brown, and that same day Brown announced that West was to be created a life peer. On 9 July 2007 he was created Baron West of Spithead, of Seaview in the County of Isle of Wight, and took his seat in the House of Lords. During his time with the Home office he produced the United Kingdom’s first ever National Security Strategy (as trailed in his Seaford House paper of 1992) and Cyber Security strategy as well as formulating a series of other ground-breaking strategies: The Counter-terrorist policy, cyber security, CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear); science and technology for countering international Terrorism and guidance for local government in enhancing the security of crowded places. In September 2011 he contributed to a book entitled What Next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation; in his piece he highlights his view that defence spending under Tony Blair was insufficient.

After politics

Lord West does a considerable amount of broadcasting. He contributes articles to the Huffington post and other media outlets. West also wrote the chapter on maritime warfare in the recently published Oxford Handbook of War. He is strategic advisor to a number of small security, defence and high tech companies. He also appears as a motivational speaker and after dinner speaker. He contributes articles to the Huffington post and other media outlets.

Styles and honours

• Mr Alan West (1948–1980)
• Commander Alan West (1980–1982)
• Commander Alan West DSC (1982–1986)
• Captain Alan West DSC (1986–1994)
• Rear Admiral Alan West DSC (1994–1997)
• Vice Admiral Alan West DSC (1997–2000)
• Vice Admiral Sir Alan West KCB DSC (2000)
• Admiral Sir Alan West KCB DSC (2000–2004)
• Admiral Sir Alan West GCB DSC (2004–2007)
• Admiral The Lord West of Spithead GCB DSC (2007–2010)
• Admiral The Rt Hon. The Lord West of Spithead GCB DSC PC (2010– )

	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
	Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
	South Atlantic Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal

External links

• Biography HMS Ardent Association
• Biography UK Home Office
• "Brown brings in more 'outsiders'" BBC News, 29 June 2007

Military offices
Preceded by Malcolm Rutherford	Naval Secretary 1994–1996	Succeeded by Fabian Malbon
Preceded by Sir John Foley	Chief of Defence Intelligence 1997–2000	Succeeded by Sir Joe French
Preceded by Sir Nigel Essenhigh	Commander-in-Chief Fleet 2000–2002	Succeeded by Sir Jonathon Band
Preceded by Sir Nigel Essenhigh	First Sea Lord 2002–2006	Succeeded by Sir Jonathon Band