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Alistair Darling

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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Alistair Darling gets extra £20bn after public borrowing is lower than feared Budget will reveal plans to cut deficit, says Alistair Darling David Cameron: Brown's 'almost kissing Darling' Economists back Alistair Darling's 'sensible' spending Alistair Darling rules out giveaway Budget to focus on deficit Tories have no economic experience or judgment, says Alistair Darling Conservative plans hide £60billion black hole, says Chancellor Darling grilled on 'missing details' of Whitehall cuts Alistair Darling won’t row back over bonuses supertax Alistair Darling rejected advice to tell MPs about secret bank loans Darling to hit bankers with windfall 'supertax'

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Alistair Darling gets extra £20bn after public borrowing is lower than feared

18.03.10
Alistair Darling gets Budget “wriggle room” for £20 billion of pre-election giveaways amid signs Government borrowing this year will be lower than feared... more

Petrol prices 'heading for record high'

16.03.10
Petrol prices will reach record levels this year costing more than £1.20 a litre, according to research by the AA... more

City fears hung parliament — but this is no need for a sterling panic

16.03.10
Economics Analysis: The prospect of a hung parliament for the first time in nearly four decades has sparked talk of a sterling crisis... more

Could Charlie be too hot to handle?

16.03.10
If Gordon Brown gets his way, Charlie Whelan will take a seat in Labour's campaign HQ next month. But a large part of the Cabinet is saying "No, Prime Minister" to the return of the spin doctor whose union, Unite, pays Labour's bills.... more

Pound ‘will be in crisis if there is no clear-cut election winner’

15.03.10
Hung Parliament could lead to a sterling crisis within weeks, Japanese bank Nomura warns... more

Budget will reveal plans to cut deficit, says Alistair Darling

02.03.10
The Chancellor says this month's Budget will show a “clear direction of travel” towards halving the record £178 billion deficit ... more

David Cameron: Brown's 'almost kissing Darling'

24.02.10
Gordon Brown stages show of unity with Alistair Darling amid Tory claims he was 'at war' with the Chancellor ahead of the crucial pre-election Budget... more

Economists back Alistair Darling's 'sensible' spending

19.02.10
Alistair Darling wins the support of more than 60 leading economists over his decision to delay spending cuts... more

Alistair Darling’s dilemma over cuts gets worse

15.02.10
Gordon Brown should not imagine that his emotional TV interview last night will divert voters’ attention from the central issue of the election: spending cuts... more

Alistair Darling rules out giveaway Budget to focus on deficit

15.02.10
Chancellor Alistair Darling signals he would not use the Budget for pre-election 'giveaways' as he vows to use any new cash on cutting Britain's deficit... more

Tories have no economic experience or judgment, says Alistair Darling

12.02.10
Chancellor warns that an age of 'low growth and austerity' lies ahead if the Conservatives win power... more

Conservative plans hide £60billion black hole, says Chancellor

04.01.10
Alistair Darling accuses Tories of hiding a £60billion shortfall in their economic plans as he claims David Cameron wants to win the election 'on a nod and a wink'... more

Darling grilled on 'missing details' of Whitehall cuts

16.12.09
Alistair Darling under pressure to spell out the scale of public spending cuts needed to rescue Britain's finances... more

Alistair Darling won’t row back over bonuses supertax

15.12.09
Alistair Darling is set to extend the scope of his supertax on City bonuses despite pleas from banks for special deals to water down the impact of the levy... more

Alistair Darling rejected advice to tell MPs about secret bank loans

15.12.09
Chancellor Alistair Darling over-ruled civil servants to keep secret £62billion of loans to RBS and Lloyds, it has emerged... more

Bankers simply must accept a lean year

14.12.09
The government finances are as good this week as they were last and anyone with a modicum of economics knows that the deficit - huge though it is - is what has kept us from a Thirties-style depression.... more

War hasn't broken out but rows may still hurt economic revival

11.12.09
Alistair Darling was on cheerful form at a Christmas drinks reception for the media at the Treasury last night... more

City Spy: Reuters ahead of the game on PBR

11.12.09
How can it be right that the Reuters newswire was able to put up on its trading screens highlights from the Pre-Budget Report - in some cases, a whole minute or so before Chancellor Alistair Darling himself had actually said them?... more

Think-tank experts paint bleak picture of deep cuts

10.12.09
Deep cuts in transport, universities, defence and housing budgets will be forced in the wake of Alistair Darling’s mini-Budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said tonight... more

I don’t know what your game is Darling, but I’d call it balls

10.12.09
The run-up to Alistair Darling’s windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses created a veritable cacophony of mangled sporting metaphors... more

City Spy: The grim reality in Darling’s numbers

10.12.09
How very different yesterday’s Pre-Budget Report was from Alistair Darling’s first as Chancellor in October 2007, when he proudly boasted that Britain is “the fastest growing advanced major economy in the world”... more

Darling denies claims of cynical con over benefit handouts

10.12.09
Chancellor forced on defensive amid claims he is raising child benefit and disability payments before the general election only to let them fall back a year later... more

Painful treatment from Mr Darling

09.12.09
Today's pre-Budget report was never going to be easy for the Chancellor, Alistair Darling... more

Why all the gloom is being overdone

09.12.09
When the dust has settled on the pre-Budget report it might just be that the most significant lasting thing to emerge is the creation of Infrastructure UK, under the chairmanship of Paul Skinner, till recently with Rio Tinto... more

Darling to hit bankers with windfall 'supertax'

09.12.09
Alistair Darling will announce a major raid on the City and plans to harvest more tax from the rest of the public, as he delivers his crunch Pre-Budget Report... more

Chancellor woos the two fat ladies in bingo land

09.12.09
First the good news. Bingo duty is being cut by two per cent. This unashamed embrace of the Two Fat Ladies' vote (Labour heartland anyone?) was about as cheerful as it got... more

Bosses' relief as national pension plan is postponed

09.12.09
Employers got at least some relief when the Government revealed that it will delay plans to force them to contribute to personal pension accounts for staff... more

SMEs give Darling's Time To Pay scheme the thumbs up

09.12.09
Small businesses welcomed the Chancellor's decision to defer an increase in corporation tax but gave a lukewarm response to other measures... more

Bankers hit with 50% tax on bonus pools for big payouts

09.12.09
Pre-Budget Report: Alistair Darling was locked in a fierce battle with City bankers over forcing them to pay a super-tax on bonuses... more

Tough but fair (just forget about the past 12 years)

09.12.09
Blame greedy bankers. Kick overpaid public sector high-rollers. Scrap wasteful civil service programmes. Even, by implication, nurses, teachers and police are roped in, to be made to face caps in their pay. This chancellor is well hard — got that? ... more

More related topics: Alistair Darling and

  • 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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