Alan West, Baron West of Spithead
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Admiral The Right Honourable The Lord West of Spithead GCB DSC PC |
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West in September 2013
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| Minister for Security and Counter-Terrorism | |
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In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Tony McNulty |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Neville-Jones |
| Chancellor of Southampton Solent University | |
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Assumed office 28 June 2006 |
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| Deputy | Professor Graham Baldwin |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
21 April 1948 London, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Rosemary Anne Linington Childs (m. 1973) |
| Children | 3 |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1965–2006 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands |
First Sea Lord Commander-in-Chief Fleet Commander United Kingdom Task Group HMS Bristol HMS Ardent |
| 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) is a retired senior officer 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. He is the current Chancellor of Southampton Solent University.
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 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, and promoted to lieutenant on 1 May 1970. 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. Promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 April 1978, 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.
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