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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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Darling: G20 will keep the rescue packages 'Let's get on' with climate fight, urges Alistair Darling Chancellor calls for bank bonuses to be paid over five years Alistair Darling puts health warning on high-risk banking

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Darling: G20 will keep the rescue packages

06.11.09
Alistair Darling today declared that his peers in the G20 were agreed that it was too early to rein in the economic stimulus packages... more

'Let's get on' with climate fight, urges Alistair Darling

06.11.09
NEW: Chancellor Alistair Darling urges finance ministers from the world's leading economies to 'get on' with tackling climate change... more

Impose a deadline on tax losses

05.11.09
... more

Steely Neelie’s got it badly wrong on RBS punishment

05.11.09
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Rock predicts it will be in good shape for sell-off

04.11.09
Northern Rock, the bailed-out mortgage and savings bank, today said it would be “well capitalised and highly liquid” and back on the route to profitability when the Government sells it off ... more

Another £40 billion from us to the banks

03.11.09
The taxpayer bail-out of the banks continues apace, with the biggest cash injection by the state to date... more

For sale: Three UK banks surplus to requirements

03.11.09
Banking analysis: The Government wants to create three new High Street banks to increase competition in the UK - and today it finally became clear what these banks might look like... more

Ministers had no choice, let's hope this is the end latest cash injection

03.11.09
Are we any further down the road to recovery in the banking industry? Ask me that question in a year's time, when we've finally come to realise the shape of this recession, and I will give you the answer. ... more

Only time will tell if banks are really on the way back

03.11.09
Are we any further down the road to recovery in the banking industry? Ask me that question in a year’s time, when we’ve finally come to realise the shape of this recession and I will give you the answer... more

Biggest bail-out ever for banks

03.11.09
Latest: Biggest bail-out yet of British banks agreed despite evidence that small firms are still being denied the credit they desperately need to survive the recession ... more

Alistair Darling set for £30bn bank cash injection

02.11.09
Government is poised to pump another £30billion of taxpayers money into the nation's ailing banks... more

Comment: More car boot sale than glamorous auction

02.11.09
Does the European Commission watch Strictly Come Dancing? Because if they did, they might appreciate the two steps forward, one step back nature of what is actually being imposed on the UK this week d ... more

Sanctimony that leads to the real scandal of office sex

02.11.09
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RBS shares in a tumble as it feels the pain of break-up

02.11.09
Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled by as much as 17% today after it admitted its break-up ordered by European regulators will be more painful than feared ... more

Darling ‘blocked Barclays bid to take over failing Lehman’

29.10.09
Chancellor Alistair Darling personally blocked a plan to save Lehman Brothers by refusing to allow Barclays Bank to take over the stricken Wall Street giant, a new book claims ... more

Darling puts bankers on the rack — and jobs on the line

28.09.09
Chancellor wins standing ovation with an attack on bankers - but angers union leaders with warning of 'difficult' decisions on spending... more

Don’t bet on Darling in pay battle with bankers

22.09.09
SO, Alistair Darling wants bankers not to pay themselves big bonuses this side of the election, does he? ... more

'Living wills' law for banks for new crisis

15.09.09
Alistair Darling pledged to force banks to draw up "living wills" so they can be dismantled more easily in the event of another Lehman Brothers-style crisis... more

Chancellor calls for bank bonuses to be paid over five years

04.09.09
City bankers should be paid bonuses over five years rather than an annual lump sum, Chancellor Alistair Darling has urged... more

Osborne: Darling in deficit 'denial'

03.09.09
The Tories warned that Alistair Darling was "in complete denial" over Britain's deficit... more

Alistair Darling views the evolution of tourism

19.08.09
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Cap City wages and tax bonuses at 90%, Chancellor is told

17.08.09
Chancellor Alistair Darling was under pressure to introduce a 'maximum wage' in the City after he signalled new laws on bankers' bonuses... more

Alistair Darling stays north of the border while standing in for PM

17.08.09
Gordon Brown's holiday cover came under fire as it emerged Alistair Darling was spending only two and a half days in London standing in for the premier this week... more

Revealed: how the banks are profiteering from lending

10.08.09
Banks were thrown into controversy over excess profits after it emerged that the spread between their cost of borrowing and the rates they levy on businesses and homeowners has rocketed ... more

Cheap shots at banks raise No 11's morale

28.07.09
Alistair Darling's eyebrows have gone into overdrive. They've been shooting up and down and in and out over the past few days as his brow furrows and frowns in displeasure at the behaviour of the banks... more

Savers and jobless will bear brunt

24.07.09
There are few winners from today's shockingly bad GDP figures.... more

Step up lending, Darling tells banks

14.07.09
Alistair Darling has again urged UK banks to increase lending to drive the economy out of recession... more

Darling forced to let sleeping dogs lie in reform of banks

09.07.09
If there was ever a case of the badger that didn't bark, it was Chancellor Alistair Darling yesterday... more

Alistair Darling puts health warning on high-risk banking

08.07.09
Britain's banks told to accept tougher regulation and take fewer risks in quest for profits in long-awaited White Paper on banking reform... more

Darling may delay his tough laws on banks

07.07.09
Hopes are growing in the City that tomorrow’s White Paper on financial regulation will back away from creating onerous legislation for banks until after the General Election, which is expected next year ... 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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