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. In 1980 he was promoted to Commander and took command of the frigate HMS Ardent, which was sunk on 21 May 1982 during the Falklands War. West was the last to leave the sinking ship and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership. 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.

In 1986, classified documents about naval cuts West had taken home with him were dropped while he was walking a dog; they were found by a freelance journalist, leading to a Mail on Sunday article outlining the Navy's concern about the possible cuts. According to Private Eye magazine West, who had the rank of Captain at the time, was charged by the Navy with "wrongfully removing secret documents, not taking proper care of them and failing to inform the ministry immediately of their disappearance." West received a "severe reprimand," according to the magazine, but this was deleted from his record after five years.

West was promoted to Rear Admiral in February 1994 and made Naval Secretary. In February 1996 he became Commander United Kingdom Task Group. In October 1997 he was promoted to Vice Admiral and Chief of Defence Intelligence. 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.

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 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.

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 Wednesday, 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.

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. In November 2007 he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that he was not "totally convinced" of the need for 42-day detention (without trial) of terrorist suspects. But less than two hours later, following a meeting with the Prime Minister, he said he was "convinced" of the need for the new legislation. He later claimed: "Being a simple sailor not a politician maybe I didn't choose my words well... Maybe my choice of words wasn't very clever". The incident was an embarrassment for the government, particularly as West was the minister charged with navigating the controversial legislation through the House of Lords.

He left office on 11 May 2010 when Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister following the May 2010 general election but continues to sit as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.

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.

Lord West later caused controversy when arguing that cutting down on military spending would lead to the UK being more like "bloody Denmark or Belgium".

Guest on The Museum of Curiosity

In November 2011, West was a guest on the BBC comedy radio show, The Museum of Curiosity. When asked about burial at sea, Lord West told the audience that "Burials at sea are fraught with danger. The body bobs up and you have to get the funeral party looking the other way while you're trying to knock holes in it, and on one occasion we were actually shooting at it to make it sink, you know, that's the hard part".

When asked about scattering the ashes, Lord West warned of other difficulties: "There was one occasion on a submarine where the ashes were thrown, and of course the submarine was on the surface and the diesels were running and it sucked all the ashes in. And, of course, in a submarine, it goes all the way through the boat, so in the galley, the leading steward was making the canapés for them after their funeral and it was all covered in ash so they were sort of recycling their old man; it's all a bit tricky, really".

He also spoke of his time in command of HMS Ardent, where 22 sailors were lost in an attack by the Argentine Airforce during the Falklands War. He confirmed that, as captain, he was the last to leave alive. He joked that, if the Royal Navy gave him a bigger ship, he'd promised not to sink the new one.

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