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Alistair Darling and Denis Healey

Alistair Darling is a Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West. Born in 1953, Darling was first elected as MP for Edinburgh South West (then Edinburgh Central) in June 1987. Darling is the incumbent Chancellor of the Exchequer, having been appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June 2007. In 1997, he was appointed to Labour’s Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury (having served as Shadow Secretary the previous year), before in July 1998 becoming Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. In May 2002, Darling became Secretary of State for Transport and four years later became Secretary of State for Scotland. After three years in office, Darling was moved to Secretary of State or Trade and Industry in May 2006, before being promoted in June 2007 to Chancellor of the Exchequer after the position was left vacant with the rise of Gordon Brown to Prime Minister.

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Latest articles

Bankers hit back: Bonuses cut and now we're hit with supertax

23.04.09

City bankers have blasted Alistair Darling for slashing their bonuses and then hitting them with a 50 per cent supertax... more

This year will be tough - but don't panic, it will not be Apocalypse Now

06.01.09

Debenhams and Next today posted poor Christmas figures but it’s a sign people see the credit crunch as the solution, not the problem... more

Facts
Darling has been married since 1986 and he and his wife have two children, one born in 1988, the other born in 1990
In May 2009, Darling was implicated in the MP Expenses scandal, after it was revealed that he had flipped the designation of his second home 4 times in as many years, allowing him to buy and furnish a flat in London as well as claim for the costs of his family home in Edinburgh
Darling attended the University of Aberdeen and earned a Bachelor of Laws. In 1977, Darling was a supported of the International Marxist Group, part of the Trotskyist Fourth International.
It has been noted by the media that three of four of Darling’s junior ministers at the Treasury are female and have been nicknamed ‘Darling’s Darlings’
In 2008, Darling was criticised for bluntly stating that the economic climate would not improve in the short-term, however, he has defended his comments, citing his duty to be ‘straight’ with the public
Darling was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of the 2007 child benefit data scandal, when the confidential details of 25 million people went missing when they were being sent from his department to the National Audit Office

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