Geoffrey Robinson

Geoffrey Robinson (born May 25, 1938) has been a British Member of Parliament for Coventry North West, one of the safest Labour seats in the country, since a 1976 by-election. He is a member of the Labour Party and a former Paymaster General (1997-98). He resigned from that post in December 1998 after it was revealed that he had secretly lent his government colleague Peter Mandelson £373,000 to buy a house, whilst under investigation for fraud by Mr Mandelson's department. He is the owner of the New Statesman, a left-leaning weekly political magazine. In 2002 he was arrested for speeding and detained for suspected possession of cocaine, but released due to lack of evidence.