Douglas Alexander - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is a British Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, who is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...

in the shadow cabinet

Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband became Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition upon being elected to the former post on 25 September 2010. The election was triggered by Gordon Brown's resignation following the party's fall from power at the 2010 general election, which yielded a Conservative – Liberal...

of Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband

Edward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...

. He has held cabinet posts under Tony Blair

Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

and Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

, including Secretary of State for Scotland

Secretary of State for Scotland

The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...

(2006-07) and Secretary of State for International Development

Secretary of State for International Development

In the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world...

(2007-10). He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Paisley & Renfrewshire South

Paisley and Renfrewshire South (UK Parliament constituency)

Paisley and Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in Renfrewshire, Scotland to the south-west of Glasgow. It elects one Member of Parliament at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting.The seat was formed in 2005, and is a...

constituency, having first been elected to parliament in 1997

Paisley South by-election, 1997

The Member of Parliament for Paisley South, in Scotland, Gordon McMaster, died on 28 July 1997.A by-election to fill the seat was held on 6 November...

.

Born in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Alexander was first elected to parliament as the Labour Party candidate in the Paisley South

Paisley South (UK Parliament constituency)

Paisley South was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

by-election in 1997. In 2003, he became a junior minister and held several non-cabinet positions including Minister for Europe (2005-06). For the 2005 General Election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, Alexander's Paisley South constituency was abolished, and he was elected in its successor seat, Paisley & Renfrewshire South

Paisley and Renfrewshire South (UK Parliament constituency)

, which takes in most of Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

town centre and southern areas of the town, as well as the towns of Glenburn

Glenburn, Paisley

Glenburn is a large housing estate situated to the south of Paisley, close to the Gleniffer Braes. Glenburn has three primary schools . A public library and many shops can be found at Skye Crescent. Other shops can be found in Glenburn on Braehead Road and Glenburn Road...

, Howwood, Johnstone

Johnstone

Johnstone is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.The town lies three miles west of neighbouring Paisley and twelve miles west of the centre of the city of Glasgow...

, Kilbarchan

Kilbarchan

Kilbarchan is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The village's name means "cell of St. Barchan". It is known for its former weaving industry.- History :...

and Lochwinnoch

Lochwinnoch

Lochwinnoch is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is chiefly a residential dormitory village serving nearby urban centres such as Glasgow and Paisley...

. From 2006-07, he held the two cabinet posts of Secretary of State for Scotland

Secretary of State for Scotland

and Secretary of State for Transport

Secretary of State for Transport

The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...

. Following Tony Blair's resignation in June 2007, Alexander became the Secretary of State for International Development

Secretary of State for International Development

, a post he held throughout Brown's premiership.

Following Labour's 2010 election defeat and subsequent election of Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband

Edward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...

as party leader, Alexander was made the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.The Ministry...

until January 2011, when following a cabinet re-shuffle, he was appointed the Shadow Foreign Secretary,

Background

Alexander was born in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, the son of a Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

minister, Douglas N. Alexander, and a doctor. Much of his childhood was spent in Bishopton

Bishopton, Renfrewshire

Bishopton is a large village in Renfrewshire, Scotland, a few miles west of Erskine.-Transport links:Bishopton sits a couple of miles from the southern end of the Erskine Bridge, which spans the River Clyde between Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. Part way along the B815 road is a computer...

in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

. A prominent member of the 1st Bishopton Company of the Boys Brigade, he played bugle in the Company's marching band helping them win the Scottish BB Marching Band Championship in 1981. Alexander attended Park Mains High School in Erskine

Erskine

Erskine is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lowest crossing to the north bank of the river at Erskine Bridge connecting the town to Old Kilpatrick...

, also in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

, from where he joined the Labour Party as a school boy in 1982.

In 1984 he won a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

scholarship to attend Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, where he gained the International Baccalaureate Diploma

IB Diploma Programme

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a two-year educational programme for students aged 16–19that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education, and is recognised by universities worldwide. It was developed in the early to mid-1960s in Geneva by...

, returning to Scotland to study politics and modern history at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

. He spent 1988/89, the third of his four undergraduate years, at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

as part of the exchange scheme between Edinburgh and Penn. Whilst studying in America, he worked for Michael Dukakis

Michael Dukakis

Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...

during the 1988 American Presidential Election campaign, he also worked for a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

in Washington DC

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

. He graduated from Edinburgh with a first-class degree in 1990.

Family and personal life

His sister, Wendy Alexander

Wendy Alexander

Wendy Alexander is a Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament from 2007-2008...

, was also involved in politics as an MSP

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...

until 2011 and briefly as the Leader of the Labour Party

Scottish Labour Party

The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

in the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

until she resigned in 2008. His father, a Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

minister, conducted the funeral of the inaugural First Minister of Scotland

First Minister of Scotland

The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...

, Donald Dewar

Donald Dewar

Donald Campbell Dewar was a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in Scotland from 1966-1970, and then again from 1978 until his death in 2000. He served in Tony Blair's cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997-1999 and was instrumental in the creation...

at Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral

The church commonly known as Glasgow Cathedral is the Church of Scotland High Kirk of Glasgow otherwise known as St. Mungo's Cathedral.The other cathedrals in Glasgow are:* The Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew...

in 2000. He is married to Jacqueline Christian and they have two children. He is the great-nephew of Cecil Frances Alexander.

Early career

In 1990 he worked as a speech-writer and parliamentary

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

researcher for Shadow

Shadow Cabinet

The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...

Trade and Industry Secretary, Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

. He returned to Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

to study for an LL.B.

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

at Edinburgh University, where he won the Novice Moot Trophy and graduated with Distinction in 1993. He then qualified as a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

. On qualifying as a solicitor he worked for a firm of solicitors in Edinburgh, which he left after six months.

Political career

Whilst still studying, in 1995, with friends in the local party and the backing of Gordon Brown—his mentor—he was selected to be the Scottish Labour Party

Scottish Labour Party

The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

candidate at the Perth and Kinross by-election

Perth and Kinross by-election, 1995

A by-election for the UK Parliament constituency of Perth and Kinross in Scotland was held on 25 May 1995, following the death of Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn on 19 February of that year....

caused by the death of the long serving flamboyant Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

Nicholas Fairbairn

Sir Nicholas Hardwick Fairbairn, QC was a British politician.He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Kinross and Western Perthshire, elected in 1974 and 1979, and Perth and Kinross, elected 1983, 1987, and 1992. He was Solicitor General for Scotland from 1979 to 1982...

. The by-election came in the middle of the Major

John Major

Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...

government and was won by Roseanna Cunningham

Roseanna Cunningham

Roseanna Cunningham is the Scottish Government's Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, having previously represented Perth.-Early life:Raised in Australia, she returned to Scotland and...

of the Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

, but Alexander did well and received enough votes to push the Conservative candidate into third place. This brought him to the attention of Tony Blair

Tony Blair

– and hotfoot from his defeat by the SNP he was welcomed at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness where he spoke immediately before Blair in the critical debate on abolition of Clause 4.4 of the Party Constitution.

The Perth and Kinross constituency was abolished, but Alexander was again chosen to be the Labour candidate in the newly drawn Perth constituency

Perth (UK Parliament constituency)

Perth was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918, 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005. From 1832 to 1918 it was a burgh constituency. From 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005, it was a county constituency...

at the 1997 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1997

The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

. He was pushed into third place behind the SNP and the Conservatives.

Member of Parliament

On 28 July 1997 the Labour Member of Parliament for Paisley South

Paisley South (UK Parliament constituency)

, Gordon McMaster

Gordon McMaster

Gordon James McMaster was a Scottish politician.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, he was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for Paisley South at a by-election in 1990, following the death of Norman Buchan, and retained the seat until his own death in 1997...

, committed suicide. Alexander, who grew up in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

, was chosen to contest the by-election

Paisley South by-election, 1997

The Member of Parliament for Paisley South, in Scotland, Gordon McMaster, died on 28 July 1997.A by-election to fill the seat was held on 6 November...

and he was duly elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for Paisley South on 6 November 1997.

Minister of state

Alexander took a successful co-ordinating role in his party's campaign for the 2001 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2001

The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

. He was rewarded by Tony Blair

Tony Blair

and was appointed as the Minister of State

Minister of State

Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...

with responsibility for "e-commerce and competitiveness" at the Department of Trade and Industry in June 2001. In May 2002, Alexander was transferred to the Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....

as Minister of State

Minister of State

.

In June 2003 Alexander was promoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office

Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The post of Minister of the Cabinet Office is sometimes derided as the Minister for the Today programme.-Ministers for the Cabinet Office:...

and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...

, and in September 2004 was moved to Minister of State for Trade

Minister of State for Trade

The Minister of State for Trade is an executive position in the Government of the United Kingdom, in both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...

at both the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

Cabinet minister

After the 2005 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

, he was given the role of Minister of State for Europe

Minister of State for Europe

The Minister for Europe is an executive position in the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with the European Union. The office is usually a junior Minister of State position in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office...

, part of the Foreign Office, with special provision to attend Cabinet

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....

. On 7 June 2005, he was made a Member of the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

. On 5 May 2006 he was appointed Secretary of State for Transport

Secretary of State for Transport

and, simultaneously, Secretary of State for Scotland

Secretary of State for Scotland

, replacing Alistair Darling

Alistair Darling

Alistair Maclean Darling is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament since 1987, currently for Edinburgh South West. He served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010...

, where he oversaw the running of the 2007 Scottish Parliament election

Scottish Parliament election, 2007

The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...

.

Following Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

's appointment as Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

on 27 June 2007, he appointed Douglas Alexander as Secretary of State for International Development

Secretary of State for International Development

External links

Douglas Alexander MP official site
Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP at the Foreign Office
Douglas Alexander at the Department of Trade and Industry
Douglas Alexander at Dfid
Steering safely down the middle, Gillian Bowditch interview in The Sunday Times Scotland, 24 September 2006
Douglas Alexander profile in The New Statesman

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