Sir Hugh Michael Robertson (born 9 October 1962) is a British businessman and former politician who is the current Chair of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

and of

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Bor ...

. He was Chair of Camelot Group, operator of the National Lottery, between 2018 and 2023. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent from

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. He was

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until July 2014, having previously been the Minister for Sport and for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Education

Robertson was educated at

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

. He read

Land Management Land management is the process of managing the land use, use and development of land resources. Those resources are used for a variety of purposes for example agriculture, forestry, water resource management, Human settlement, human settlements an ...

at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

from 1982 to 1985, obtaining a BSc (Hons) degree, before attending the RMA Sandhurst between 1985 and 1986. In March 2014, Robertson was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship by the

in recognition of the role he played in the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Career

Robertson served as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the Life Guards from 1982 to 1995, rising to the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. Robertson saw active service in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, The Gulf War and served with the UN peacekeeping force

UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and ...

in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1993, he commanded the Household Cavalary for the Queen's birthday parade at the state opening of Parliament. From 1995 until 2001, he was a banker with the investment management division of

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1804, it employs over 6,000 people worldwide in 38 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is traded on ...

, then head of new business development for the property division.

Parliamentary career

Robertson was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Faversham and Mid Kent from 2001-2015. Having shadowed this post in Opposition, he was appointed a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State as the

Minister for Sport and the Olympics The minister for sport and civil society was a Minister (government), junior minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom government, with responsibility for sport and Civil Socie ...

in the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for Culture of the United Kingdom, culture a ...

in May 2010. In September 2012, he was appointed as Minister of State in the

Department of Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. I ...

as the Minister for Sport, Olympic Legacy Tourism, and was sworn as a Privy Councillor in October. In October 2013, he was appointed Minister of State at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. He stood down from government in the 2014 reshuffle and was knighted for his work as Minister for the Olympics during London 2012 and his work in the Middle East. In January 2015 Robertson announced that he would stand down from Parliament at the next general election.

Post-Parliamentary appointments

In June 2015, Robertson was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent. In November 2016, he succeeded

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...

as Chair of the

. From 2017 to 2023 Robertson served as the Independent Chair of the Sports Honours Committee. In June 2018, Robertson was announced as the Chair of Camelot Group. He joined Genius Sports as a Board Advisor in May 2022. In January 2023 Robertson stepped down as Chair of Camelot. In June 2023, he was announced as the new Chair of Birmingham Airport. In 2024, Robertson became a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

Personal life

Robertson married Anna Copson in May 2002. The wedding had to be rescheduled at short notice after the death of

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

. They have one son.

Honours

Sir Hugh has received the following decorations: * UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon

KCMG *

General Service Medal * UNFICYP

UNFICYP

Medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

(Bosnia) * NATO Medal Yugoslavia ribbon bar

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

(Former Yugoslavia) * Brunei Meritorious Service Medal.''Pingat Indah Kerja Baik''
/ref>

References

External links

Sir Hugh Robertson
official site
''Debrett's People of Today''

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/hugh_robertson/faversham_and_mid_kent TheyWorkForYou.com - Hugh Robertson MP
BBC Politics page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Hugh 1962 births Living people Politicians from Canterbury People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Alumni of the University of Reading Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst British Life Guards officers British Army personnel of the Gulf War Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Deputy lieutenants of Kent Schroders people British International Olympic Committee members