Douglas Alexander
| Douglas Alexander | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Name | Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October, 1967) |
| Nicknames | Wee Dougie (media, fandom, enemies within the Labour Party), Dougie (fandom) |
| Politics | |
| Party | Labour |
| Constituency | Paisley and Renfrewshire South (1997-2015) |
| Positions | • Shadow Foreign Secretary (2011-2015) • Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2010-2011) • Secretary of State for International Development (2007-2010) • Secretary of State for Transport and Scotland (2006-2007) |
| Likes | ? |
| Dislikes | ? |
| Friends | Ed Miliband, David Miliband, James Purnell |
| Enemies | Jim Murphy |
| Relationships | |
| Partners | Jacqueline Christian |
| Children | Son and daughter |
| Personal Attributes | |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Religion | Church of Scotland |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Height | 5'8" |
| Eye Colour | Blue |
| Handedness | Right |
| Accent | Light Scottish |
Douglas Alexander was the Shadow Foreign Secretary and is notably short.
Life and Career[edit | edit source]
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Douglas was born in Glasgow and grew up in Bishopton. His father was a Church of Scotland minister and his mother was a doctor. He is the younger brother of the former MSP, Wendy Alexander, and the great-nephew of the hymn-writer and poet, Cecil Frances Alexander.
As a member of the 1st Bishopton Company's marching band, he played the bugle. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 15. During his time studying Politics and Modern History at the University of Edinburgh, he chaired the university's Labour Club and in his third year won a scholarship to study for a year at the University of Pennsylvannia.
Pre-political Career[edit | edit source]
Between working as a parliamentary researcher and speechwriter for Gordon Brown and his election to parliament in 1997, Douglas trained as a solicitor and worked for a firm which provided services to Trade Union members.
Early Political Career[edit | edit source]
Douglas's political success is largely due to his talent and success as an election campaigner. Selected as the candidate to fight for the Tory-held seat of Perth and Kinross in the 1995 by-election, he significantly increased Labour's majority, moving them to second place.
Along with Ed Miliband, he was known as one of the 'Treasury Girls' during his time working for Gordon Brown, in contrast to more aggressive members of the team, such as Ed Balls.
Parliamentary Career[edit | edit source]
Douglas was Labour's General Election Co-ordinator in 2001 and 2010. His success at the 2001 election resulted in his appointment as a minister for the Department of Trade and Industry and later, a promotion to Minister for the Cabinet Office in 2002. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 2005, when he was appointed Minister of State for Europe.
When Ed Miliband became leader, he was made Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, and then Shadow Foreign Secretary in the reshuffle following Alan Johnson's resignation.
| Full List of Appointments |
|---|
| • Minister for the Cabinet Office (2003-2004) |
| • Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (2005-2006) |
| • Secretary of State for Transport (2006-2007) |
| • Secretary of State for Scotland (2006-2007, concurrently with Transport) |
| • Secretary of State for International Development (2007-2010) |
| • Shadow Secretary of State for International Development (2010) |
| • Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2010-2011) |
| • Shadow Foreign Secretary (2011-2015) |
2015 General Election[edit | edit source]
Douglas was the first Portillo Moment of the 2015 general election, losing his seat to a 20 year old uni student from the SNP early on in the night.
Personal Life[edit | edit source]
He became friends with David Miliband while he was working for Brown and David was working for Blair. In 1990 he met Ed Miliband in David's kitchen and they gradually became close friends. Douglas and Ed went on holiday to Ireland together in 2000, along with James Purnell, and Douglas and Ed have since shared holidays in Scotland, France and the US.[1]
Ideology[edit | edit source]
Although portrayed by the media as a Brownite, Douglas rejects the idea of being in either the Blairite or Brownite camp, pointing out that he was first made a minister under Tony Blair and ran David Miliband's leadership campaign.
He is a pluralist and was strongly in favour of the adoption of the AV system in the 2011 national referendum, collaborating with Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs Charles Kennedy and Jo Swinson.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
Portrayal[edit | edit source]
In Fanon[edit | edit source]
Meme[edit | edit source]
The meme often capitalises on the canon that Douglas is a friend of both David and Ed Miliband, but chose to lead David Miliband's leadership campaign. The reason for Douglas's choice is thought to be that David was generally expected to succeed Gordon and Douglas thought it was wrong of Ed to challenge his older brother. It could also simply be that Douglas thought that David was the most likely to win and wanted to establish his loyalty to the new leader.
Shipping
Douglas is most frequently shipped with Ed Miliband. Portrayals of Douglas and Ed's relationship mainly focuses on their angst after Ed won the party leadership.
