serviceyears branch allegiance mawards birth_date term_end commands imagesize battles term_start rank image name caption deputy predecessor birth_place party office successor primeminister article_title
1965 -- 2006 united kingdom united kingdom knight distinguished service cross grand cross of the order of the bath 21 april 1948 11 may 2010 first group hms '' bristol '' hms '' ardent '' sea lord commander-in-chief fleet commander united kingdom task 200px falklands war iraq war 28 june 2007 28 june 2006 admiral 1sl alan west -lrb- cropped -rrb- . jpg the lord west of spithead lord west in september 2013 van gore tony mcnulty london , united kingdom labour minister university for security and counter-terrorism chancellor of southampton solent the baroness neville-jones gordon brown alan west , baron west of spithead

alan west , baron west of spithead

admiral alan william john west , baron west of spithead -lrb- born 21 april 1948 -rrb- is a retired senior officer of the royal navy and formerly , from june 2007 to may 2010 , a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the british home office with responsibility for security and a security advisor to prime minister gordon brown .
prior to his ministerial appointment , he was first sea lord and chief of the naval staff from 2002 to 2006 .
he is the current chancellor of southampton solent university .
