Douglas Alexander
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The Rt. Hon. Douglas Alexander MP (born 26 October 1967 in Glasgow) is the British Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South. He is a member of the Labour Party, and serves as Minister of State for Europe in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, attending Cabinet.
Born in Glasgow, Alexander attended Park Mains High School in Erskine in Renfrewshire, and then Lester B. Pearson College in Vancouver, Canada for his Bachelor's. He then went to Edinburgh University, where he got a Master's in 1990, an LLB in 1993, and a diploma in legal practice the next year. Alexander worked as a speech-writer and parliamentary researcher for Gordon Brown for a year in 1990, and then went into practice after securing his diploma, working as a solicitor until 1997.
He unsuccessfully contested Perth and Kinross in a by-election there in 1995, and Perth in the 1997 general election. He then became an MP, after winning the November 1997 by-election trigged by the suicide of Gordon McMaster, who had won it in.
Alexander took a successful co-ordinating rôle in his party's campaign for the 2001 general election, and was subsequently made a Minister of State with responsibility for " e-commerce and competitiveness" in the Department for Trade and Industry in June 2001.
In May 2002, Alexander was transferred to the Cabinet Office to continue to served in the same task. Then, in June 2003, he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; it was suggested that this was so that he could help plan for the next general election. However, Alan Milburn came out of retirement for the post in September 2004, and so Alexander was made the Minister of State for Trade in both the Department for Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. After the 2005 general election, he was given the rôle of Minister of State for Europe, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which special provision to attend Cabinet. This job is seen as crucial to successfulling piloting the referendum on the European Constitution, a significant electoral pledge by Labour. On 7th June 2005, he was made a Member of the Privy Council.
Alexander is on the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, and his sister, Wendy Alexander, is also involved in politics, as an MSP.
External links
- Douglas Alexander MP (http://www.douglasalexander.labour.co.uk/) official site
- Foreign Office - Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP (http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1094235854169) official profile
- Department of Trade and Industry - Douglas Alexander (http://www.consumer.gov.uk/ministers/ministers/alexander.html)
- Guardian Unlimited Politics Ask Aristotle - Douglas Alexander MP (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-48,00.html)
- They Work For You - Douglas Alexander MP (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/douglas_alexander/paisley_and_renfrewshire_south)
| Preceded by: The Lord Macdonald of Tradeston | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2003–2004 | Succeeded by: Alan Milburn |
| Preceded by: Mike O'Brien | Minister of State for Overseas Trade DTi and FCO 2004–2005 | Succeeded by: — |
| Preceded by: Denis MacShane | Minister of State for Europe 2005– | Succeeded by: Current Incumbent |