Political Career
Robinson has been a Member of Parliament for Coventry North West, a safe Labour Party seat, since a by-election on 4 March 1976 caused by the death of former MP Maurice Edelman. His Conservative opponent in the 1987 election was the novelist Jim Powell. During the 1980s, with Labour in opposition, he held frontbench positions, speaking for the party on trade and industry, and science. He was Paymaster General in Tony Blair's government from May 1997 to December 1998, resigning after it was revealed that in 1996 he had lent his government colleague Peter Mandelson £373,000 to buy a house.
Although a committed Labour and Gordon Brown supporter, Robinson has often been considered a 'champagne socialist'. His previous life as a businessman has made him one of the wealthiest Members of Parliament, with a personal fortune of around £30 million. He is a lover of fine wine and dining. He owns holiday homes in Tuscany (used by Tony Blair for his summer holiday once) and the South of France and owns a penthouse flat in London's Park Lane. He owns a house designed by Edwin Lutyens - Orchards at Munstead (Godalming, Surrey, 1898–99) has been described as 'among the finest Surrey Houses'. Lutyens' Marshcourt (Stockbridge, Hampshire, 1901–1904) was bought and restored by Robinson, but sold again in 1999 following the scandal which saw him resign as Paymaster General.
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