Douglas Alexander | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Secretary of State for Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ian Murray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 May 2006 – 28 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alistair Darling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Des Browne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament forLothian East | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Kenny MacAskill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 13,265 (27.7%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forPaisley and Renfrewshire South Paisley South (1997–2005) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 November 1997 – 30 March 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Gordon McMaster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mhairi Black | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Douglas Garven Alexander (1967-10-26)26 October 1967 (age 58) Glasgow, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour Co-op | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Wendy Alexander (sister) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | University of Edinburgh (LLB) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is aScottish Labour politician who has served asSecretary of State for Scotland since 5 September 2025, having previously held the role from 2006 to 2007. A member of theLabour Party, he has beenMember of Parliament (MP) forLothian East since 2024. He was previously MP forPaisley and Renfrewshire South, formerlyPaisley South, from 1997 to 2015 and served asChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,Transport Secretary andInternational Development Secretary in the cabinets ofTony Blair andGordon Brown.
Alexander was first elected at the1997 Paisley South by-election. In 2001, he was appointed byTony Blair asMinister of State fore-Commerce and Competitiveness in theDepartment of Trade and Industry. He wasMinister of State for the Cabinet Office from 2002 to 2003. In 2003, he was promoted toMinister for the Cabinet Office andChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 2004, he was appointedMinister of State for Trade. Following the2005 general election, he was appointedMinister of State for Europe and made a member of thePrivy Council. During this period, he started attendingcabinet. In 2006, he was appointed to serve jointly as bothSecretary of State for Scotland andSecretary of State for Transport. In 2007, whenGordon Brown became Prime Minister, he appointed Alexander asSecretary of State for International Development.
After Labour lost the2010 general election Alexander co-chairedDavid Miliband'sleadership campaign. WhenEd Miliband became the party's leader, Alexander was elected to theShadow cabinet and was made theShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He held this position until a 2011 reshuffle, when he was appointedShadow Foreign Secretary. In October 2013, he was appointed by Miliband as the party's chair of general election strategy. In2015, he lost his seat to 20 year-oldMhairi Black of theScottish National Party, in what was one of the worst results for Labour; with forty seats lost to the SNP nationwide.
In December 2022, Alexander sought out a return to Parliament by applying to be Labour's parliamentary candidate forEast Lothian, held by theAlba Party'sKenny MacAskill. He won the selection to stand for theLabour and Co-operative parties in the constituency in February 2023 and was elected as the MP for the redrawn Lothian East constituency in July 2024.
Alexander was born inGlasgow, the son of Joyce Oliver Alexander (née Garven), a doctor, and Douglas Niven Alexander, aChurch of Scotland minister.[1] Much of his childhood was spent inBishopton inRenfrewshire. Alexander attended his local comprehensive schoolPark Mains High School inErskine, also in Renfrewshire, from where he joined the Labour Party as a schoolboy in 1982.
In 1984 he won a Scottish scholarship to attendLester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada, where he gained theInternational Baccalaureate Diploma, returning to Scotland to study politics and modern history at theUniversity of Edinburgh. He spent 1988/89, the third of his four undergraduate years, at theUniversity of Pennsylvania as part of the exchange scheme between the two universities. When studying in America, he worked forMichael Dukakis during the1988 American presidential election campaign, and also worked for aDemocraticsenator inWashington DC. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first-class degree in 1990.[1]
In 1990, Alexander worked as a speech writer and parliamentary researcher forShadowTrade and Industry SecretaryGordon Brown. He returned toEdinburgh to study for anLLB at the University of Edinburgh, where he won the Novice Moot Trophy and graduated with distinction in 1993. He then qualified as a Scottishsolicitor. On qualifying as a solicitor, he worked for a firm of solicitors in Edinburgh that provided legal services to Trade Union members and specialised in industrial injury cases.
Whilst still studying in 1995 and with friends in the localConstituency Labour Party and the backing of his mentor shadow chancellor Gordon Brown, he was selected to be The Labour Party in Scotland candidate at thePerth and Kinross by-election caused by the death of theConservative MPNicholas Fairbairn. The by-election in the highly volatile Tory seat of Perth and Kinross came in the middle of theJohn Major government and was won byRoseanna Cunningham of theScottish National Party, but Alexander received enough votes to push the Conservative candidate into third place. It was a seat where Labour had never previously done particularly well, and the result, which saw Labour overtake the Conservatives and move up to second place, broke several post war election records.[2] This brought him to the attention of party leaderTony Blair, and shortly after his defeat by the SNP he was welcomed at The Labour Party in Scotland Conference in theEden Court Theatre inInverness where he spoke immediately before Blair in the critical debate on abolition ofClause IV of theLabour Party Constitution.
When the Perth and Kinross constituency was abolished, Alexander was chosen to be the Labour candidate in the newly drawnPerth constituency at the1997 general election. Once again, Labour achieved a further swing with Alexander securing 24.8% share of the vote compared to 22.9% achieved during the1995 by-election, though pushed into third place.
On 28 July 1997,Gordon McMaster, the Labour Member of Parliament forPaisley South, committed suicide. Alexander, who grew up inRenfrewshire, was chosen to contest theby-election and he was elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for Paisley South on 6 November 1997. In June 2001 he was returned to Westminster with an increased majority. Following the general election in May 2005 Alexander was re-elected, becoming MP for the new constituency ofPaisley and Renfrewshire South, as well as promoted to Minister of State for Europe attending Cabinet at the Foreign Office. At the 2010 General Election Alexander was re-elected for Paisley and Renfrewshire South with a majority of 13,232 votes.[3] He lost his seat to 20-year-oldMhairi Black of theScottish National Party at the general election on 8 May 2015 with a swing against him of 26.9%.
Alexander took a successful co-ordinating role in his party's campaign for the2001 general election. He was rewarded byTony Blair and was appointedMinister of State fore-Commerce and Competitiveness at theDepartment of Trade and Industry in June 2001. In May 2002, Alexander was transferred to theCabinet Office as Minister of State.[4] As Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Alexander oversaw the work of the government's Strategy Unit, the Central Office of Information, and theCivil Service.
In June 2003 Alexander was promoted toMinister for the Cabinet Office andChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and in September 2004 was moved toMinister of State for Trade at both theDepartment of Trade and Industry and theForeign and Commonwealth Office.
Following the2005 general election, he was given the role ofMinister of State for Europe, part of the Foreign Office, with special provision to attendCabinet. During the United Kingdom'sPresidency of the Council of the European Union, he contributed directly to successful negotiations on agreement of theMultiannual Financial Framework. On 7 June 2005, he was made a Member of thePrivy Council.
On 5 May 2006, he was appointedSecretary of State for Transport and, simultaneously,Secretary of State for Scotland, replacingAlistair Darling. On 10 August 2006, Alexander was helicoptered by theRoyal Air Force from Scotland to London to join Home SecretaryJohn Reid, in leading the UK Government's response to the2006 transatlantic aircraft plot and attend meetings ofCOBRA, the government emergencies committee.[5] He worked with police, Intelligence Agencies, the Airlines and theUS Department of Homeland Security.
During his time as Scottish Secretary, Alexander oversaw the running of the2007 Scottish Parliament election. FollowingGordon Brown's appointment asPrime Minister on 27 June 2007, he appointed Douglas Alexander asSecretary of State for International Development. During this time Alexander served as a governor of theWorld Bank,[6] theAfrican Development Bank,[7] theInter-American Development Bank[8] theCaribbean Development Bank,[9] and theAsian Development Bank.[10]
Alexander took a central role in the firstScottish Parliament elections in 1999 which sawDonald Dewar elected as the firstFirst Minister of Scotland. Alexander is credited with devising the strategy for the campaign, including the successful 'Divorce is an Expensive Business' messaging unveiled at the Labour Party in Scotland Conference in Glasgow (March 1999).[11] Labour secured 56 seats under the Proportional Representation system, nine short of an overall majority, and agreed to enter a coalition with the 17-strong Liberal Democrats to form the first Government in the newly establishedScottish Parliament.[12] Alexander also coordinated Labour's successful 2001 General Election Campaign which resulted in another Labour landslide and the Party winning 413 of the 659 seats available: securing a 167-seat majority in the House of Commons.[13] Alexander was appointed byTony Blair to Labour's National Executive Committee in 2003 and was appointed byGordon Brown to be Labour's General Election Coordinator for the2010 general election campaign. This campaign saw the first televised Leaders' debates,[14] and Alexander was part of the core team preparingGordon Brown for each debate, as well as devising the strategy and messaging for the campaign across the UK which would ultimately denyDavid Cameron's Conservatives a Majority in May 2010.[15] Later in that year Alexander accepted the role as co-chair ofDavid Miliband's campaign for theleadership of the Labour party.[16][17] He subsequently wasEd Miliband's chair of general election strategy for the Labour2015 general election campaign.[16][18]
In September 2012 Alexander gave an interview to theEvening Standard newspaper criticisingKen Livingstone'selection campaign and calling out anti-Semitic comments made by the former London Mayor. He said Livingstone paid the "deserved price" when he lost the London mayoral election.[19] Alexander said: "Ken's campaign too often looked like the past rather than the future and when I saw his remarks about the Jewish community in London in particular, I didn't just think it was ill-advised, I thought it was wrong".[20] Livingstone hit back onTwitter, saying the Shadow Foreign Secretary "represents a failedNew Labour project that lost millions of votes". He also invited him to discuss the issue on his radio show.[21]
Alexander has been a vocal critic of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party and is a supporting member of one of the oldest socialist societies affiliated to the Party: theJewish Labour Movement. In 2011, Alexander was among the first to publicly condemnPaul Flynn, the Labour MP forNewport West for his comments regarding the religion of Britain's first Jewish ambassador to Israel.[22] Alexander, who at the time was serving as Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, said in response to Flynn's comments about AmbassadorMatthew Gould that: "The faith of any British diplomat is irrelevant to their capability to their job. To make suggestions otherwise is wrong and offensive".[23]
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On 29 June 2010, five years after theMake Poverty History March in Edinburgh, Alexander gave a speech to the Labour Campaign for International Development about the progress made towards achieving the Gleneagles Summit Goals and on the future of International Development.[24]
On 12 October 2011, Alexander delivered the Andrew John Williamson Memorial Lecture, at Stirling University. In his lecture entitled: "A Better Nation?" A Personal Reflection on Scotland's Future. Alexander explored the difference between the political ideologies of nationalism and socialism and outlined a strategy for Scottish Labour to reclaim the mantel of devolution and successfully defeat the campaign for Scottish separation.[25]
On 17 January 2013, in a speech to the foreign policy think-tankChatham House, Alexander outlined his support for the UK to remain afull member state of the European Union but would not support afederal United States of Europe.[26]
On 3 May 2013, Alexander delivered the 4thJudith Hart Memorial Lecture for which he received a lot of media attention for addressing the issue of Scottish Independence ahead of the referendum to be held the following year.[27] Alexander paid tribute to Judith Hart's "strong sense of solidarity" advocating for Scotland to vote to remain part of the United Kingdom, saying: "Walking away from others has never been our way – walking with others has been our heritage and to my mind should be our future".[28]
During the2009 MP expenses scandal, Alexander was one of three Labour ministers who "quietly repaid more £50,000 in expenses". It emerged he had repaid more than £12,000 that he had previously claimed in expenses on his taxpayer-funded second home while also receiving income from a tenant at the same home. This represented double-funding for his second home and was against the expenses rules.[29][30]
After leaving public office, Alexander became a Fisher Family Fellow atHarvard University where he served as a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (2016–2022). He has served as a Fellow in the Institute of Politics at theUniversity of Chicago (2016),[31] and as a visiting professor at New York University (Abu Dhabi) (2020-2024). He also served as a visiting professor atKing's College London's Policy Institute (2015-2024). In November 2015 Alexander started working as a senior advisor toBono, helping secure investment to tackle global poverty.[32][33] In March 2016 Alexander joined thePinsent Masons law firm as a "strategic advisor".[34][35]
He served as a Council Member on theEuropean Council on Foreign Relations,[36] a Trustee of theRoyal United Services Institute,[37] and Chair of the Programme Committee at The Ditchley Foundation[38] (2024).
Alexander has written and presented programmes for BBC Radio 4 including: the documentary: "A Culture of Encounter" (2017), in which Alexander brought together experts and community organisations to explore the cultural, economic, and political polarising forces in society.[39] He also authored and presented the three part "Belonging" series (2018) comprising these episodes: 'Old Ties',[40] 'New Bonds',[41] and 'Tomorrow's Stories'.[42] This series, in which Alexander explored the erosion of class, religion and security in society to explain why the ties that previously gave so many a shared sense of belonging have weakened, was nominated by BBC Radio 4 for the International URTI Radio Grand Prix (31st edition) Prize for Public Service Media and Social Networks.[43]
At the end of 2019 Alexander authored and presented a programme called: A Guide to Disagreeing Better.[44] This programme was broadcast in January 2020 and explores why public discourse has become so ill-tempered and lacking in respect. Alexander interviews a range of contributors with personal tales about how to disagree better. The programme received widespread news coverage.[45][46]
Ahead of COP26[47] in 2021, Alexander authored and presented a further BBC Radio 4 programme called 'Glasgow: Our Last Best Hope',[48] an essential guide to COP26, its hope of success and what the transition to net zero could mean for Glaswegians and all of us, with contributions from John Kerry,[49] Christian Figueres,[50] Mark Carney and Alok Sharma.[51]
In May 2022, Alexander authored and presentedConnections which examined whether recent crises, including theCOVID-19 pandemic andRusso-Ukrainian War, have helped bring people together or driven them apart.[52]
Douglas Alexander served as chair of the board of trustees for UNICEF UK from June 2018 to September 2020. Alexander stepped down as chair in September 2020 following accusations of bullying by then-executive director Sasha Deshmukh, although he had the support of the board.[53][54][55] A review byMorgan, Lewis & Bockius which reported in January 2021 described the bullying allegations made by Deshmukh as "unsubstantiated", and in respect of complaints made by three other employees, said that although Alexander's manner "did cause some discomfort and upset to the three employees", that "when viewed objectively, it did not amount to bullying".[56][57]
In August 2021, Alexander was a General Court Assessor at the University of Edinburgh Court,[58] his alma mater (2021-2024). Alexander was a member of the University of Edinburgh Court, the university's highest governing body, and the General Council Business Committee and the Policy and Resources Committee.
In December 2022, Alexander sought out a return to Parliament by applying to be Labour's parliamentary candidate forEast Lothian which at the time was the party's #1 target seat in Scotland, held by theAlba Party'sKenny MacAskill.[59] He won the selection to stand for Labour in the constituency in February 2023.[60] He won the seat and was re-elected to Parliament for the first time as aLabour Co-op MP in July 2024.[61] He was subsequently appointedMinister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security on 6 July[62][63][64] and appointedMinister of State in theCabinet Office on 10 February 2025.[65]
During the2025 British cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed to succeedIan Murray asSecretary of State for Scotland on 5 September 2025.[66]
Alexander has written numerous pieces for publication in national newspapers in the UK and the USA includingThe New York Times,[67] theLos Angeles Times,[68]The Guardian,[69] andThe Boston Globe.[70][71]
He has contributed to, authored and edited several books: "New Scotland New Britain" (1999),[72] "Europe in a Global Age" (2005),[73] "Serving a Cause, Serving a Community" (2006),[74] "Renewing our offer not retracing our steps", The Purple Book (2011),[75] "Influencing Tomorrow: Future Challenges for British Foreign Policy (2013),[76] and "Britain in a complex world", Why Vote Labour 2015: The Essential Guide (2014)[77] and "Rethink: How We Can Make A Better World" (2021), a collection of essays focused on a global 'reset moment' with leading international figures giving glimpses of a better future after the pandemic including contributions from Pope Francis, Niall Ferguson,Samantha Power and Paul Krugman.[78]
Douglas married Jacqueline Christian in 2000, and together they have a daughter and a son. His sister,Wendy Alexander, was also involved in politics as anMSP until 2011 and briefly as theLeader of the Labour Party in theScottish Parliament until she resigned in 2008. His father, a Church of Scotland minister, conducted the funeral of the inauguralFirst Minister of Scotland,Donald Dewar atGlasgow Cathedral in 2000.[1] He is the great-nephew ofCecil Frances Alexander.[79]
He is a member of theFabian Society.[80]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) access date 8 March 2025{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPaisley South 1997–2005 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forPaisley and Renfrewshire South 2005–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLothian East 2024–Present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for the Cabinet Office 2003–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2003–2004 | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Trade 2004–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Europe 2005–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Transport 2006–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Secretary of State for Scotland 2006–2007 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for International Development 2007–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for International Development 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Shadow Foreign Secretary 2011–2015 | Succeeded by | |
| Secretaries of state for Scotland 1707–1746 | .svg) | |
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| Secretaries for Scotland 1885–1926 | ||
| Secretaries of state for Scotland (pre-devolution) 1926–1999 | ||
| Secretaries of state for Scotland (post-devolution) 1999–present | ||
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| Secretaries of state for international development | ||
| Ministers of state for development | ||
* Served as Minister for (Overseas) Development as aminister of state at theForeign Office | ||
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