Robin Cook ( 28 February 1946 â `` 6 August 2005 ) was a politician in the British Labor Party . He was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001 . Robert Finlayson Cook ( 28 February 1946 â `` 6 August 2005 ) was a British Labor Party politician , who was the Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Livingston from 1983 until his death , and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001 .