A Labour Party View of UK Defence Policy

The Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth, Secretary of State for Defence, outlined his party’s policy of defence in advance of the General Election and subsequent Strategic Defence Review.

Bob Ainsworth was appointed Secretary of State for Defence on 5 June 2009. A Coventry trade unionist and former local councillor with strong roots in the city, he was elected Member of Parliament for Coventry North East in 1992. He was a long serving Whip in both Opposition and Government before he was promoted to his first ministerial position after Peter Mandelson's second resignation in January 2001.

He served five months as junior minister in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and after the General Election he was moved to the Home Office with responsibility for Anti-drugs Co-ordination and Organised Crime. In the reshuffle of June 2003, he returned to the Whips’ Office on promotion to Deputy Chief Whip. He served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces prior to his current appointment.