Douglas Alexander

For other people named Douglas Alexander, see Douglas Alexander (disambiguation).

Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is a Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, previously Paisley South, from 1997 until his defeat in 2015. During this time, he served as Scottish Secretary, Transport Secretary and International Development Secretary in the Cabinet under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He subsequently served in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Foreign Secretary.

The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander
Alexander in 2015
Secretary of State for International Development
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Hilary Benn
Succeeded by	Andrew Mitchell
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 6 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Alistair Darling
Succeeded by	Des Browne
Secretary of State for Transport
In office 6 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Alistair Darling
Succeeded by	Ruth Kelly
Minister for the Cabinet Office Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 13 June 2003 – 8 September 2004
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	The Lord Macdonald of Tradeston
Succeeded by	Alan Milburn
Shadow cabinet posts Shadow Foreign Secretary In office 20 January 2011 – 11 May 2015 Leader Ed Miliband Preceded by Yvette Cooper Succeeded by Hilary Benn Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions In office 8 October 2010 – 20 January 2011 Leader Ed Miliband Preceded by Yvette Cooper Succeeded by Liam Byrne Shadow Secretary of State for International Development In office 11 May 2010 – 8 October 2010 Leader Harriet Harman (Acting) Ed Miliband Preceded by Andrew Mitchell Succeeded by Harriet Harman
Junior ministerial offices Minister of State for Europe In office 5 May 2005 – 6 May 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Denis MacShane Succeeded by Geoff Hoon Minister of State for Trade In office 8 September 2004 – 5 May 2005 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Mike O'Brien Succeeded by Ian Pearson Minister of State for the Cabinet Office In office 29 May 2002 – 13 June 2003 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Barbara Roche Succeeded by David Miliband (2004) Minister of State for e-Commerce and Competitiveness In office 11 June 2001 – 29 May 2002 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Ian McCartney (1999) Succeeded by Stephen Timms
Member of Parliament for Paisley 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 55) Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Jacqueline Christian
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Website	Official website

Alexander was first elected to Parliament in the Paisley South by-election in 1997. In 2001, he was appointed by Tony Blair as Minister of State for e-Commerce and Competitiveness in the Department of Trade and Industry. He was Minister of State for the Cabinet Office from 2002 to 2003. In 2003, he was promoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 2004, he was appointed Minister of State for Trade, serving jointly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and in the Department of Trade and Industry.

At the 2005 general election, the Paisley South constituency was abolished and Alexander was elected to represent its successor seat of Paisley and Renfrewshire South. Following the election, Alexander was appointed Minister of State for Europe. During this period, Alexander attended Cabinet and was made a member of the Privy council. In 2006, Alexander was appointed to serve jointly as both Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Transport. In 2007, when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, he appointed Alexander as Secretary of State for International Development.

After Labour lost the 2010 general election Alexander co-chaired David Miliband's leadership campaign. When Ed Miliband became the party's leader, Alexander was elected to the Shadow cabinet and was made the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He held this position until a 2011 reshuffle, when he was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary. In October 2013, he was appointed by Miliband as the party's Chair of General Election Strategy. In 2015, his was among the 40 seats lost by Labour in Scotland.

In December 2022, Alexander sought out a return to parliament by applying to be Labour’s parliamentary candidate for East Lothian in the next United Kingdom general election, the party’s #1 target seat in Scotland, which is currently held by the Alba Party’s Kenny MacAskill, who was elected for the SNP.^[1]

Early life and career

Alexander was born in Glasgow, the son of Joyce O. Alexander and Douglas N. Alexander, a Church of Scotland minister.^[2] Much of his childhood was spent in Bishopton in Renfrewshire. Alexander attended his local comprehensive school Park Mains High School in Erskine, also in Renfrewshire, from where he joined the Labour Party as a schoolboy in 1982.

In 1984 he won a Scottish scholarship to attend Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada, where he gained the International Baccalaureate Diploma, returning to Scotland to study politics and modern history at the University of Edinburgh. He spent 1988/89, the third of his four undergraduate years, at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the exchange scheme between the two universities. When studying in America, he worked for Michael Dukakis during the 1988 American presidential election campaign, and also worked for a Democratic senator in Washington DC. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first-class degree in 1990.^[2]

In 1990, Douglas worked as a speech writer and parliamentary researcher for Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary Gordon Brown. He returned to Edinburgh to study for an LLB at the University of Edinburgh, where he won the Novice Moot Trophy and graduated with distinction in 1993. He then qualified as a Scottish solicitor. 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.

Political career

Perth and Kinross

Whilst still studying in 1995 and with friends in the local Constituency Labour Party and the backing of his mentor shadow chancellor Gordon Brown, he was selected to be The Labour Party in Scotland candidate at the Perth and Kinross by-election caused by the death of the Conservative MP Nicholas Fairbairn. The by-election in the highly volatile Tory seat of Perth and Kinross came in the middle of the John Major government and was won by Roseanna Cunningham of the Scottish 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.^[3] This brought him to the attention of party leader Tony Blair, and shortly after his defeat by the SNP he was welcomed at The Labour Party in Scotland 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 Labour Party Constitution.

When the Perth and Kinross constituency was abolished, Alexander was chosen to be the Labour candidate in the newly drawn Perth constituency at the 1997 general election. Once again Labour achieved a further swing with Alexander securing 24.8%^{[4][circular reference]} share of the vote compared to 22.9%^{[5][circular reference]} achieved during the by election, though pushed into third place.

Member of Parliament

On 28 July 1997, Gordon McMaster, the Labour Member of Parliament for Paisley South, committed suicide. Alexander, who grew up in Renfrewshire, was chosen to contest the by-election and he was duly 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^{[6][circular reference]}. Following the General Election in May 2005 Douglas was re-elected, becoming MP for the new constituency of Paisley 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 successfully re-elected as MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South with a majority of 13,232 votes.^[7] He lost his seat to 20-year-old Mhairi Black of the Scottish National Party at the General Election on 8 May 2015 with a swing against him of 26.9%.

Minister of state

Alexander took a successful co-ordinating role in his party's campaign for the 2001 general election. He was rewarded by Tony Blair and was appointed Minister of State 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 as Minister of State.^[8] As Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Alexander oversaw the work of the government's Strategy Unit, the Central Office of Information, and the Civil Service.

In June 2003 Alexander was promoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and in September 2004 was moved to Minister of State for Trade at both the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Cabinet minister

Following the 2005 general election, he was given the role of Minister of State for Europe, part of the Foreign Office, with special provision to attend Cabinet. During the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, he contributed directly to successful negotiations on agreement of the Multiannual Financial Framework. On 7 June 2005, he was made a Member of the Privy Council.

On 5 May 2006, he was appointed Secretary of State for Transport and, simultaneously, Secretary of State for Scotland, replacing Alistair Darling. On 10 August 2006, Alexander was helicoptered by the Royal Air Force from Scotland to London to join Home Secretary John Reid, in leading the UK Government’s response to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot and attend meetings of COBRA, the government emergencies committee.^[9] He worked with police, Intelligence Agencies, the Airlines and the US Department of Homeland Security.

During his time as Scottish Secretary, Alexander oversaw the running of the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. Following Gordon Brown's appointment as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, he appointed Douglas Alexander as Secretary of State for International Development. During this time Alexander served as a governor of the World Bank,^[10] the African Development Bank,^[11] the Inter-American Development Bank^[12] the Caribbean Development Bank,^[13] and the Asian Development Bank.^[14]

Election campaign roles

Alexander took a central role in the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999 which saw Donald Dewar elected as the first First 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).^[15] 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 for the first Government in the newly established Scottish Parliament.^[16] 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.^[17] Alexander was appointed by Tony Blair to Labour’s National Executive Committee in 2003 and was appointed by Gordon Brown to be Labour’s General Election Coordinator for the 2010 general election campaign. This campaign saw the first televised Leaders' debates,^[18] and Alexander was part of the core team preparing Gordon Brown for each debate, as well as devising the strategy and messaging for the campaign across the UK which would ultimately deny David Cameron's Conservatives a Majority in May 2010.^[19] Later in that year Alexander accepted the role as co-chair of David Miliband's campaign for the leadership of the Labour party.^[20][21] He subsequently was Ed Miliband's chair of general election strategy for the Labour 2015 general election campaign.^[20][22]

Opposition to Antisemitism

In September 2012 Alexander gave an interview to the Evening Standard newspaper criticising Ken Livingstone's election 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.^[23] 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".^[24] Livingstone hit back on Twitter, saying the Shadow Foreign Secretary "represents a failed New Labour project that lost millions of votes". He also invited him to discuss the issue on his radio show.^[25]

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: the Jewish Labour Movement. In 2011, Alexander was among the first to publicly condemn Paul Flynn, the Labour MP for Newport West for his comments regarding the religion of Britain's first Jewish ambassador to Israel.^[26] Alexander, who at the time was serving as Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, said in response to Flynn's comments about Ambassador Matthew Gould that: "The faith of any British diplomat is irrelevant to their capability to their job. To make suggestions otherwise is wrong and offensive".^[27]

Public speeches

On 29 June 2010, five years after the Make 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.^[28]

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.^[29]

On 17 January 2013 in a speech to the foreign policy think-tank Chatham House, Alexander outlined his support for the UK to remain a full member state of the European Union but would not support a federal United States of Europe.^[30]

On 3 May 2013, Alexander delivered the 4th Judith 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.^[31] 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".^[32]

Expenses Controversy while MP and Cabinet Minister

During the expenses scandal Alexander was one of three Labour Ministers who "quietly repaid more £50,000 in expenses". It emerged he had repaid more that £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 second home. This represented double funding for his second home and was against the expenses rules.^[33][34]

Publications

Alexander has written numerous pieces for publication in national newspapers in the UK and the USA including The New York Times,^[35] the Los Angeles Times,^[36] The Guardian,^[37] and The Boston Globe.^[38][39]

He has contributed to, authored and edited several books: "New Scotland New Britain" (1999),^[40] "Europe in a Global Age" (2005),^[41] "Serving a Cause, Serving a Community" (2006),^[42] "Renewing our offer not retracing our steps", The Purple Book (2011),^[43] "Influencing Tomorrow: Future Challenges for British Foreign Policy (2013),^[44] and "Britain in a complex world", Why Vote Labour 2015: The Essential Guide (2014)^[45] 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.^[46]

Broadcasting

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.^[47] He also authored and presented the three part "Belonging" series (2018) comprising these episodes: 'Old Ties',^[48] 'New Bonds',^[49] and 'Tomorrow’s Stories'.^[50] 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.^[51]

At the end of 2019 Alexander authored and presented a programme called: A Guide to Disagreeing Better.^[52] 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.^[53][54]

Ahead of COP26^[55] in 2021, Alexander authored and presented a further BBC Radio 4 programme called 'Glasgow: Our Last Best Hope',^[56] 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,^[57] Christian Figueres,^[58] Mark Carney and Alok Sharma.^[59]

In May 2022, Alexander authored and presented 'Connections'^[60] which examined whether recent crises - from Covid to the Ukraine war - have helped bring people together or driven them apart.

Later career

After leaving public office, Alexander became a Fisher Family Fellow at Harvard University where he served as a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (2016-2022). He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago (2015) and is currently a visiting professor at New York University (Abu Dhabi). He is also currently a visiting professor at King’s College London's Policy Institute. In November 2015 Alexander started working as a senior advisor to Bono, helping secure investment to tackle global poverty.^[61][62] In March 2016 Alexander joined the Pinsent Masons law firm as a "strategic advisor".^[63][64] He remains a Member of the UK Privy Council, a Council Member on the European Council of Foreign Relations, and a Trustee of the Royal United Services Institute.

He is a Council Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations,^[65] a Trustee of the Royal United Services Institute,^[66] and Chair of the Programme Committee at The Ditchley Foundation^[67]

Bullying Claims while Chair of Unicef UK

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.^[68][69][70] A review by Morgan, 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".^[71][72]

University of Edinburgh

In August 2021, Alexander was appointed a General Court Assessor at the University of Edinburgh Court,^[73] his alma mater. Alexander is 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.

Personal life

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 an MSP until 2011 and briefly as the Leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament until she resigned in 2008. His father, a Church of Scotland minister, conducted the funeral of the inaugural First Minister of Scotland, Donald Dewar at Glasgow Cathedral in 2000.^[2] He is the great-nephew of Cecil Frances Alexander.^[74]

References

1. Crerar, Pippa (20 December 2022). "Ex-minister Douglas Alexander plans return as Labour MP". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
2. "Alexander, Rt Hon. Douglas (Garven), (born 26 Oct. 1967), PC 2005". Who's Who. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.5212. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.
3. "Douglas Alexander". politics.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
4. Perth (UK Parliament constituency)
5. 1995 Perth and Kinross by-election
6. Paisley South (UK Parliament constituency)
7. "Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Constituency) 2005 results – General election results – UK Parliament".
8. "No. 10 – Douglas Alexander MP". Archived from the original on 9 May 2005.
9. "Parties 'united' over terror plot". 10 August 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
10. "2009 ANNUAL MEETINGS OF THE BOARDS OF GOVERNORS" (PDF). The World Bank Group.
11. "LIST OF THE NEW GOVERNORS AND ALTERNATE GOVERNORS RECORDED BY THE BANK IN FEBRUARY 2009" (PDF). afdb.org.
12. "inter-american development bank annual report 2007". Issuu. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
13. "Annual Report 2007" (PDF). caribank.org. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
14. "Asian Development Bank & United Kingdom (Fact Sheet)" (PDF). think-asia.org.
15. Hassan, Gerry (20 June 2012). Strange Death of Labour Scotland. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-5555-7.
16. "A short history of Scottish Parliament elections, 1999-2011". scotsman.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
17. "BBC VOTE 2001 | RESULTS & CONSTITUENCIES". BBC News. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
18. "Why leaders have never debated on TV". 10 April 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
19. "BBC NEWS | Election 2010 | Results | United Kingdom – National Results". BBC News. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
20. Pickard, Jim (5 March 2015). "Labour poll general Douglas Alexander faces dire SNP threat". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
21. Bernstein, Jon (4 June 2010). "Why Douglas chose David, not Ed". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
22. Wintour, Patrick (3 June 2015). "The undoing of Ed Miliband – and how Labour lost the election". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
23. Murphy, Joe (28 September 2012). "Douglas Alexander: I blame Ken for losing to Boris. He paid a deserved price for errors he made". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
24. "Douglas Alexander: I blame Ken for losing to Boris. He paid a deserved". Evening Standard. London. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
25. "Alexander sparks Ken row". PoliticsHome. London: Dods Parliamentary Communications. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
26. "Chilling words". thejc.com. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
27. "Jewish envoy not loyal to UK, says Labour MP". thejc.com. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
28. "Read Douglas Alexander's speech to LCID". Labour Campaign for International Development. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
29. "Douglas Alexander: we must tell an alternative story to beat the SNP". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
30. Labour Party says no to a United States of Europe 20 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
31. "Judith Hart Remembered". Labour Campaign for International Development. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
32. Alex, Douglas (3 May 2013). "Walking with others, not walking away from them". Labour Hame. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
33. "MPs pay back £500,000 in expenses". BBC. 19 June 2009.
34. "Three Labour ministers repay £50,000 of expenses to Fees Office". The Times. 20 June 2009.
35. Alexander, Douglas (24 March 2006). "Opinion | A tale of two elections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
36. "Op-Ed: Brexit would hurt U.S." Los Angeles Times. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
37. "Douglas Alexander". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
38. Alex, Douglas (2 November 2017). "Britain should right a historic wrong and recognize the state of Palestine – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
39. Alexander, Douglas (28 March 2017). "The EU-UK divorce begins – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
40. "New Scotland, New Britain". Smith Institute. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
41. "Europe in a Global Age". The Foreign Policy Centre. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
42. "Serving a Cause, Serving a Community by Douglas Alexander, Dr. Stella Creasy | Waterstones". waterstones.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
43. Philpot, Robert (23 September 2011). The Purple Book. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-210-4.
44. "Influencing Tomorrow: future challenges for British foreign policy". europeanleadershipnetwork.org. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
45. Jarvis, Dan (18 September 2014). Why Vote Labour 2015: The Essential Guide. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-808-3.
46. Rethink : leading voices on life after crisis and how we can make a better world. Amol Rajan. London. 2021. ISBN 978-1-78594-717-9. OCLC 1263746390.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
47. "A Culture of Encounter". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
48. "BBC Radio 4 – Belonging, Old Ties". BBC.
49. "BBC Radio 4 – Belonging, New Bonds". BBC.
50. "Belonging, Tomorrow's stories". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
51. "News | URTI". urti.org. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
52. "A Guide to Disagreeing Better". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
53. Perraudin, Frances (30 December 2019). "Head of Radio 4 to put focus on programmes about 'solutions'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
54. Alex, Douglas; er. "Douglas Alexander: Here's a New Year's resolution, let's agree to disagree... but better". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
55. "UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021". UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
56. "BBC Radio 4 – Glasgow: Our Last Best Hope?". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
57. "John Kerry". United States Department of State. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
58. "Christiana Figueres". christianafigueres.com. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
59. "The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
60. "BBC Radio 4 - Connections". BBC. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
61. Pickard, Jim (29 November 2015). "U2's Bono hires Douglas Alexander as adviser". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
62. Swindon, Peter (29 November 2015). "Guess who Douglas Alexander has as a new BFF? ... It's Bono". The Herald. Scotland. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
63. Jonathon Manning (1 March 2016). "Pinsents appoints former Labour MP Douglas Alexander as Brexit adviser". The Lawyer. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
64. Sanderson, Daniel (2 March 2016). "Ousted MP Douglas Alexander takes job with legal firm". The Herald. Scotland. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
65. "London Office – UK Members of the Council | ECFR". ecfr.eu. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
66. "Alexander". RUSI. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
67. "Think new things, make new connections | Ditchley Foundation". ditchley.com. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
68. Murray, Jessica (24 September 2020). "Unicef UK chair Douglas Alexander resigns amid bullying allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
69. "Unicef UK chief quits after bullying claims against chairman". The Guardian. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
70. Andy Ricketts (23 September 2020). "Unicef UK chief resigns after raising bullying claims against chair". thirdsector.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
71. Murray, Jessica (8 January 2021). "Former Unicef UK chair Douglas Alexander cleared of bullying". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
72. "External Review – Summary of Review Findings" (PDF). Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
73. "University Court". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
74. "BBC Two – The Truth About Christmas Carols". BBC.

Bibliography

• Torrance, David, The Scottish Secretaries (Birlinn 2006)

External links

• official site
• Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP at the Foreign Office
• at the Department of Trade and Industry
• at Dfid
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Steering safely down the middle, Gillian Bowditch interview in The Sunday Times Scotland, 24 September 2006
• profile in The New Statesman

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gordon McMaster	Member of Parliament for Paisley South 1997–2005	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South 2005–2015	Succeeded by Mhairi Black
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Macdonald of Tradeston	Minister for the Cabinet Office 2003–2004	Succeeded by Alan Milburn
	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2003–2004
Preceded by Mike O'Brien	Minister of State for Trade 2004–2005	Succeeded by Ian Pearson
Preceded by Denis MacShane	Minister of State for Europe 2005–2006	Succeeded by Geoff Hoon
Preceded by Alistair Darling	Secretary of State for Transport 2006–2007	Succeeded by Ruth Kelly
	Secretary of State for Scotland 2006–2007	Succeeded by Des Browne
Preceded by Hilary Benn	Secretary of State for International Development 2007–2010	Succeeded by Andrew Mitchell
Preceded by Andrew Mitchell	Shadow Secretary of State for International Development 2010	Succeeded by Harriet Harman
Preceded by Yvette Cooper	Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2010–2011	Succeeded by Liam Byrne
	Shadow Foreign Secretary 2011–2015	Succeeded by Hilary Benn