Geoff Hoon was a surprise choice for the defence job when George Robertson left for Nato. It was said that his work at the Foreign Office had impressed the Prime Minister. He is a Blairite moderniser with strong pro-European credentials.
This week he has called for more military co-operation between European nations in the light of a new report which discusses British troops fighting under an EU flag.
He said that: "There is no reason why, at the beginning of the new millennium, a continent of our size, wealth and experience should lack the capacity for effective decision-making and action."
However Mr Hoon said British troops would always remain under the control of the UK prime minister.
Following Labour's election victory in 1997 Hoon, a qualified barrister, was appointed parliamentary secretary at the Lord Chancellor's department, during a time of considerable controversy for Lord Irvine.
Two years later and he was on the move again, this time to the Foreign Office as minister of state.
Mr Hoon was elected to the European Parliament in 1984 as the MEP for Derbyshire, fulfilling this role until 1994.
He was elected to the House of Commons in 1992, representing Ashfield.
Born in Derby in 1953, he worked in a furniture factory before studying law at Jesus College, Cambridge.
