Douglas Alexander

Who is Douglas Alexander?

Douglas Garven Alexander is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Shadow Foreign Secretary and the Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South.

Alexander was first elected to Parliament in the Paisley South by-election in 1997. In 2003, he became a minister, and held several positions including Minister of State for Europe from 2005 to 2006. At the 2005 election, Alexander's constituency was abolished, and he was subsequently elected to represent its successor seat of Paisley and Renfrewshire South. In 2006 he was appointed to the Cabinet by Tony Blair, becoming the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Transport. When Gordon Brown replaced Blair as Prime Minister in 2007, Alexander became the Secretary of State for International Development. In 2010, following the election of Ed Miliband as Labour 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.