The Right Honourable Donald Anderson is one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament in the UK, having first been elected in 1966, although he lost his seat for four years from 1970.

He was unfortunate in that his time as a frontbencher coincided neatly with Labour's wilderness years, depriving him of ministerial office.

Nonetheless, he has achieved a high profile as chairman of the Commons foreign affairs select committee and survived a government attempt to oust him after the 2001 general election .

He speaks with authority on international matters and was one of the Commons' leading opponents of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Mr. Anderson has been a consistent supporter of the European Union, since before Britain's entry into the European Economic Community.

Mr. Anderson is socially conservative on matters like abortion, homosexuality, and alcohol and was a supporter of the "Keep Sunday Special " campaign against Sunday trading.