Alistair Darling

Supplementary material includes a timeline with links to contemporary reports and an addendum concerning fiscal developments

Alistair Darling MP.
Photo © Crown copyright 2007, used by permission.

Alistair Darling (born 28th November 1953) was the British finance minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, from June 2007 until May 2010, and prior to that served from 1997 in various senior ministerial posts. He is one of five Members of Parliament (MPs) for the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, a seat he has held since 1987.

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.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The economic developments during Alistair darling's chancellorship are described in the article on the Great Recession, and their effects upon the Government's finances are summarised in the addendum to this article

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling inherited from Gordon Brown a budget deficit of 2.7 per cent of national income, which was above the OECD average, but lower than the deficit that Gordon Brown had inherited from his predecessor. When he took over in June 2007, some banks were beginning to suffer the effects of the subprime mortgage crisis, but the economy was continuing to grow at an above-trend rate. Later in that year, however, commodity price increases were beginning to affect growth , and in his November pre-budget report, Alistair Darling warned that a continuation of the banking crisis could reduce the rate of further growth

Darling was appointed Chancellor on 28th June 2007 by Gordon Brown; as the post is the highest executive office after Prime Minister, it gave him the authority to deputise in Brown's absence. One of his first acts as Chancellor was to administer the resignation of Tony Blair as an MP; 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. 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. The government was criticised for what appeared to be inactivity early on in the crisis.

Darling sparked controversy in the media and behind the scenes in August 2008, when he stated in an interview that the UK and global economies were the worst they had been for 60 years. His opinion was that the global recession was "going to be more profound and long-lasting than people thought." He also acknowledged that Labour was failing to connect with voters: "We've got to rediscover that zeal which won three elections, and that is a huge problem for us at the moment. People are pissed off with us. We really have to make our minds up; are we ready to try and persuade this country to support us for another term?" Darling also referred to the level of support for his chancellorship behind the scenes, saying, "There's lots of people who'd like to do my job. And no doubt actively trying to do it." Darling was strongly criticised by the Opposition for his comments, and experienced more flak outside the public gaze, as he revealed two years later in an interview where he likened briefings by the Conservative Party and supporters of Gordon Brown as "the forces of hell".

Following the 2010 election, Darling remained a senior Labour figure for an interim period as Shadow Chancellor, responsible for scrutinising the government's financial decisions until October 2010, when he retired from the Shadow Cabinet.