Douglas (Garven) ALEXANDER Labour PAISLEY SOUTH '97-

Majority: 11,910 (39%) over SNP 7-way Description: The southern half of the solidly Labour town dominated by thread, engineering and motor cars; once held by HH Asquith, Liberals showed strength as recently as the '61 by-election and the '64 general election; the constituency includes the town of Johnstone a few miles to the west, where "the first machine tool foundry in the world was established" (DA); it exchanged a few thousand voters with Paisley North in '95; its recent notoriety has come from the controversies around the suicide of Labour MP Gordon McMaster in the summer of '97; Position: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office '03-; ex: Minister of State, Cabinet Office '02-03; Minister of State, DTI '01-02; Outlook: A fast-rising, Buchan-inspired, Brown-encouraged young partisan Scots New Labour enthusiast; already in charge of Labour's future election strategy, is a "future Cabinet contender" (Greg Hurst, TIMES); "Mr Blair values his strategic skills" (Andrew Grice, INDEPENDENT), although a "fully paid-up member of Gordon's Praetorian Guard" (Catherine MacLeod, HERALD); "he is probably one of the most focused people I have come across and his ability to analyse [a] campaign and develop the strategy is impressive" (Anne McGuire MP); has "one of the best political brains I've ever known" (Jim Innes); accused of "reciting the line of the day from Millbank" (Diane Abbott MP); a "confidant of the Chancellor, Gordon Brown" who "set aside a lifetime's support for a Scottish Parliament to run for the Westminster seat" (Lawrence Donegan, GUARDIAN); he narrowly won '97's low-key by-election in Paisley South after losing '95's Perth and Kinross by-election, despite a Blair-led "blitz"; "if New Labour had its own academy for training by- election candidates, then would surely be its role model", "very young, very moderate and very very sure of his soundbites" (Toby Helm, DAILY TELEGRAPH); History: He was born and brought up in the Glasgow base of the Iona community set up by Church of Scotland ministers appalled at the poverty in the city; he was influenced in his politics by the frequent visits to his parents' manse by their local MP, Norman Buchan, whose "inspirational conversation and commitment to socialism" made a major impact; he joined the Labour Party at 15, '82; while studying in the USA, he campaigned for Michael Dukakis '88; he campaigned for Gordon McMaster in the Paisley South by- election Nov '90; he contested the Perth and Kinross by-election caused by the death of Sir Nicholas Fairbairn; despite two visits by Tony Blair, and a "blitz" which included Gordon Brown and every MP who could be press-ganged, he lost to the SNP's by 7,311 votes, but pushed the Tory into 3rd place May '95; as a close confidante of Gordon Brown, he helped develop Labour's hard-line unionist strategy for the Scottish elections; he contested the changed seat of Perth, again losing to Roseanna Cunningham, by 3,141 votes May '97; won the by-election in Paisley South caused by the suicide of Gordon McMaster, its Labour MP, who was depressed in the wake of exposure to organophosphates while a gardener; he left a note accusing neighbouring West Renfrewshire MP Tommy Graham of spreading rumours about his homosexuality July '97; Alexander was short-listed for the by-election by the NEC with only Margaret McCulloch; Alexander was selected as Labour's candidate by the local party by 100 votes to 13, allegedly because of his closeness to Gordon Brown, for whom he had written speeches Oct '97; during his by-election campaign he was pleasantly charming while dodging any controversial questions about local sleaze ("it would be injudicious to speak about individuals when an inquiry into serious allegations is under way"); he debated

1 Copyright © Parliamentary Profile Services Ltd. Douglas (Garven) ALEXANDER Labour PAISLEY SOUTH '97- with his SNP opponent Ian Blackford on Scottish TV but concentrated on discussing dangerous fireworks and taxis for the disabled Oct '97; his somewhat muted campaign ("Operation Charm, Dodge and Bore") and accusations of Labour sleaze, succeeded in winning the by-election by an inevitably narrower majority of 2,731 over the SNP, down from Gordon McMaster's 12,750 at the general election, a swing to the SNP of 11% Nov '97; when he signed on, Tory jeerers - who were aiming at the PM - were reproached by Speaker Boothroyd Nov '97; made his Maiden on the National Minimum Wage Bill, much needed by his constituents "to end the centuries-old injustice of poverty pay" Nov '97; was accused by Diane Abbott of "reciting the line of the day from Millbank" Mar '98; asked Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar about the progress toward reducing the number of NHS trusts operating in Scotland Apr '98; he enthused about Chancellor Brown's Budget, especially its welfare-to-work provisions July '98; he urged the retention of his local 143-strong, 110-year- old Paisley Royal Engineers "without in any way undermining the integrity of the new approach to the reserve forces" in the Strategic Defence Review Oct '98; with Ed Miliband, Gordon Brown's special adviser, he was sent to `save Scotland' when the opinion polls showed the possibility of a pro-SNP swing; they devised a new Brownite unionism, based on the economic benefits of being linked to England '98-99; in a memo leaked to the GUARDIAN, he wrote that the Scottish Labour Party needed re-branding, perhaps as "Scottish New Labour - the Scottish People's Party" Jan '99; in the wake of elections to the Scottish Parliament, there was widespread resentment in the Scottish Labour Party that their campaign had been run by Millbank types like Alexander while Donald Dewar toured in a battle bus May '99; in charge of campaigning in the Hamilton South by-election, caused by the departure to NATO of George (Lord) Robertson, Alexander saw the Labour majority slashed from 16,000 to only 556, lamely commenting that winning was all that mattered Sep '99; after only two years in Parliament he became one of four election campaign co-ordinators with Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson and Ian McCartney; his installation at Millbank was described by one party official as the Brownite equivalent of "the USA planting its flag on the moon" Nov '99; with Gordon Brown, in the NEW STATESMAN urged Scotland not to retreat into "the politics of identity" but to "make the pursuit of social justice" its prime target May '00; his position was countered when Pat McFadden, a Blairite Scot, was transferred from Downing Street to Millbank as head of political co-ordination June '00; he voted to prohibit fox-hunting with dogs Jan '01; with Peter Mandelson's departure to Hartlepool after resigning as Northern Ireland Secretary, Alexander, nominally his deputy as election co- ordinator, took over the post Feb '01; as the US-educated top Labour campaign planners, he had learned from Al Gore's electioneering mistakes and did not allow the economy to fall off the agenda and concentrated on Labour's commitment to the NHS, schools and pensions Apr- May '01; he retained Paisley South with his majority quadrupled June '01; he was promoted Minister of State for E-Commerce and Competitiveness in DTI July '01; he announced a 30m boost for fast internet services, leading the DAILY TELEGRAPH's Jonathan Lambeth to write he was "worth every penny of his 85,178 salary in my book" Oct '01; he rejected the appeal of an advisory group to offer direct tax incentives to boost broadband internet access Dec '01; in RENEWAL he wrote: "Just as Labour has spoken with such moral authority on the present international situation, it is important to speak to the values which inspire our domestic goals"; he warned that politics was trapped in a cycle of cynicism that could eventually destroy social democratic politics and create a dangerously disengaged youth Feb '02; he was promoted to Minister of State in the Cabinet Office, as the Commons voice for Lord (Gus) Macdonald May '02; he visited Sweden for a policy seminar as the guest of the Swedish Social Democrats July '02; he voted for elections to the Upper House, against the Blair line Feb '03; he was promoted Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office June '03; he voted for a 100% ban on fox-hunting, again against the Blair

2 Copyright © Parliamentary Profile Services Ltd. Douglas (Garven) ALEXANDER Labour PAISLEY SOUTH '97- line July '03; he was mooted as chairman of the proposed Public Services Forum, including trade union leaders Sep '03; Born: 26 October 1967 , Glasgow Family: Grandson, of medical missionaries in China on one side and on the other side a grandfather who worked in a Clyde shipyard before switching to a life dedicated to the church; son, of Rev Douglas Alexander, Church of Scotland minister, and Dr Joyce (nee Garven) Alexander, GP; is the younger brother of Wendy Alexander, who seemed to be winning out in their sibling rivalry when Communities Minister, then Enterprise Minister in Scotland's Labour Cabinet; Education: Park Mains High School, Erskine; Lester B Pearson College, Vancouver; University (First in History and Politics; Law degree); University of Pennsylvania; Occupation: Ex; Solicitor, '94-97; Speechwriter and Researcher for Gordon Brown '90-91; Traits: Beaky nose (therefore prefers head-on photographs); "his hair neatly gelled, wearing a Mandelson-black suit with Dewar-red tie" (John Arlidge, OBSERVER); "a good-looking, very nice young man" (Anne McGuire MP); "clean-cut" (Auslan Cramb, DAILY TELEGRAPH); "looks more like 19" (Magnus Linklater, TIMES); "pleasantly bland" (Ben Macintyre, TIMES); looks "as out of place among Scots Labour as an insurance clerk on a strikers' picket" (Matthew Parris, TIMES); a Bill Simpson/`Dr Finlay' look-alike; so youthful- looking that El Al staff refused to allow him and Oona King permission to reboard their plane, not believing they could be MPs; "He's the only one who can get out of late votes, because he's got a note from his mum" (Alan Johnson, fellow Minister); "razor-sharp" (GUARDIAN); "sharp and ambitious" (Andrew Rawnsley, OBSERVER); confident, self-assured; "I really enjoy campaigning" (DA); has a "fantastically irreverent sense of humour" concealed by a "po-faced attitude at work"; "he arouses strong passions among his colleagues: they either love him or hate him"; "there are those who respect his intelligence and capacity for strategic thinking but still criticise his `intolerance of people he deems to be not as clever as himself'" (Catherine MacLeod, Glasgow HERALD); "impeccably diplomatic", "he displays a ferocious energy, talking so fast that it's hard to get a word in" (Jackie Ashley, GUARDIAN); Address: House of Commons, Westminster, SW1A 0AA; Telephone: 0207 219 3000 (House of Commons);

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