Robert Keith Bennett Doyle (born 20 May 1953) is an Australian politician who was the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008 until he resigned on 4 February 2018 amidst allegations of sexual harassment.

[1] He lost the 2002 election by a large margin; the result was in fact the worst showing for the main non-Labor party in Victoria since it adopted the Liberal banner in 1945.

The party lost control of the Legislative Council for only the second time in Victorian parliamentary history, while their lower house seat count was more than halved, to 17 seats–their smallest presence in the legislature in half a century.

For some time after the 2002 defeat, Doyle remained Opposition Leader, partly through the sheer shortage of potential alternative candidates for the job in the much-reduced Liberal party room.

[4] On 27 October Doyle announced his candidacy, saying he could leave partisan politics aside to work with the State Government if he became Lord Mayor.

Stating that it was the "best job in the world" [7] Many of Doyle's policies have been around 'activating' Melbourne as a night time city in conjunction with the Andrews' Government introduction of 24-hour public transport on weekends, extending hours of hospitality operation and continued support of 24-hour arts festivals.

[9] Doyle has been a vocal supporter of marriage equality, and has appeared regularly on LBGTI radio station Joy 94.9 as a prominent conservative politician.

[10] Some of Doyle's policies as Lord Mayor to make the CBD safer and more family friendly have caused mild controversy.

"[17] In August 2009, Doyle came under pressure from the Chinese Government to intervene and stop the screening of The 10 Conditions of Love at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

This Australian-made film is about a prominent Uighur woman Rebiya Kadeer, who China labels a 'terrorist' and claims that she was the orchestrator of the July 2009 Ürümqi riots.

[24][25] Occupy Melbourne protesters then bombarded Robert Doyle with requests for an inquiry online during his 2012 election campaign, to which the Lord Mayor then closed his Facebook and Twitter accounts due to "abuse and harassment".

[27][28] On 4 February 2018, Doyle resigned as Lord Mayor of Melbourne,[29] following reports the previous month that two other women had made separate accusations of sexual misconduct.

The third complainant alleged that Doyle had "touched her repeatedly under the table on her upper thigh and made offensive remarks to her at a medical awards ceremony held by Melbourne Health in June 2016".

[30] In March 2021, an independent investigation commissioned by the Department of Health and conducted by Charles Scerri concluded that Doyle had committed "serious misconduct of a sexual nature".