About Geoffrey Robinson (politician)
Geoffrey Robinson (born 25 May 1938) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North West for 43 years, from 1976 to 2019. He was Paymaster General from May 1997 to December 1998, resigning after the insolvency of his company Trans Tec. It was revealed that he had lent his government colleague Peter Mandelson £373,000 to buy a house. From 1996 to 2008 he was the owner of the New Statesman, a centre-left weekly political magazine. == Background == Robinson was born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Emanuel School in Battersea, London, Clare College, Cambridge, and Yale University. On completing his formal education he became a Labour Party researcher before joining the newly created entity the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, at a time when the British government was promoting a merger between the Leyland Motor Corporation and BMC. The merger duly took place amid high hopes that a solution to the BMC problem was in sight. == Business career == A change of government led to a swift demise for the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, and in 1970 Robinson joined British Leyland, the company in the creation of which he had been instrumental. His initial job title was "Staff executive, facilities planning", but after four months he was promoted to the position of Financial Controller. It was an unusual appointment in a conservative industry, both on account of his relative youth and because he had no accountancy qualification. (His formal tertiary education had concentrated on Russian, German and, possibly of more direct relevance, Economics.) Geoffrey Robinson was from 1972 Chairman of Innocenti in Italy, appointed following acquisition of the business by British Leyland, Robinson having played a leading role in acquisition negotiations following the death of Ferdinando Innocenti.
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