The Rt Hon Lord Darling

Alistair Darling was a member of parliament from 1987 until 2015, most recently for Edinburgh South West. He served as chancellor of the exchequer from 2007 to 2010, playing a central role in battling the economic crisis that hit Britain after the crash of 2008, including overseeing the nationalization of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.

Lord Darling is one of only three who served continuously in the Labour government’s cabinet from 1997 to 2010. He was initially appointed chief secretary to the Treasury from 1997 to 1998, secretary of state for work and pensions from 1998 to 2002, secretary of state for transport from 2002 to 2006, secretary of state for Scotland from 2003 to 2006 and secretary of state for trade and industry from 2006 to 2007.

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Alistair Darling studied law at Aberdeen University and was a solicitor and then an advocate at the Scottish Bar. He lives in Edinburgh. He is author of the book Back from the Brink, published in 2011. From 2012 to 2014 Alistair was chair of the Better Together campaign, which was a cross-party group that successfully campaigned for Scotland to remain part of the UK in the 2014 Independence Referendum.

Lord Darling stood down at the 2015 election. Nominated for a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours, he was created Baron Darling of Roulanish, of Great Bernera in the county of Ross and Cromarty, on 1 December 2015. He was elected to Morgan Stanley’s Company’s Board of Directors and took up his appointment on 1 January 2016.