Alistair Darling
Alistair Darling (born 28th November 1953) is the current British finance minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible for administering the UK public revenue. He was appointed on 28th June 2007 by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, after ten years' service in various senior ministerial positions within the British government; the post is the highest executive office after Prime Minister, giving him the authority to deputise in Brown's absence. Since 1987, Darling has also been one of five Members of Parliament (MP) for the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Ministerial career
Alistair Darling came to government with the election of the Labour Party and Tony Blair in 1997, following his earlier career as a solicitor, service as local councillor, election as MP for Edinburgh South West, and successive roles as Opposition spokesman on various issues. He was first appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury (May 1997 - July 1998), deputising Gordon Brown as Chancellor - an experience which would make him the obvious choice for the finance portfolio in Brown's first Cabinet (the UK executive branch of government).
Darling was appointed Secretary of State for Social Security in July 1998, a post he held until the election of the second Labour government in June 2001. His next position was Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, until May 2002. He was then given two positions, as the Secretaries of State for Transport and Scotland, which he occupied until May 2006. His final job in Tony Blair's Cabinet was as Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry, before being appointed Chancellor by Gordon Brown.[2]
One of Alistair Darling's first acts as Chancellor was to administer the resignation of Tony Blair as an MP;[3] this was a routine parliamentary matter, in contrast to his first big test in the job: the credit crisis surrounding the Northern Rock bank in September 2007.[4] A downturn in the bank's fortunes led to assistance from the Bank of England, triggering long queues outside UK branches as savers panicked and tried to withdraw their money. After a few days, and with the bank apparently in danger, Darling stepped in to guarantee the value of every account.[5] The government was criticised for what appeared to be inactivity early on in the crisis.[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of Public Sector Information, UK.
- ↑ HM Treasury: 'Ministerial profiles: Chancellor of the Exchequer'. 27th June 2007.
- ↑ HM Treasury: 'Three Hundreds of Chiltern'. 27th June 2007.
- ↑ BBC News: 'Timeline: Northern Rock bank crisis'. 24th September 2007.
- ↑ BBC News: 'Turbulent ride for Northern Rock'. 24th September 2007.
- ↑ BBC News: 'Brown attacked over Northern Rock'. 17th September 2007.
External links
- HM Treasury - official website
- Ministerial profiles: Chancellor of the Exchequer - official biography
- HM Treasury: Chancellor's speeches - Chancellors' speeches, archived from 1997
- Profile: Alistair Darling - unofficial assessment by The Guardian newspaper