About Danny Alexander
Born: 15th May 1972
Family: Married (Rebecca, July 2005) with two daughters (Isabel Rose, born July 2007 and Isla, born May 2010)
Education:
Lochaber High School, Fort William;
Oxford University - Hons degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics
Experience:
MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey since May 2005
Director of Communications, European Movement, 1996-99
Head of Communications, Britain in Europe, 1999-2004
Head of Communications, Cairngorms National Park Authority, 2004-05
Parliamentary Experience:
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, June 2010 -
Secretary of State for Scotland, May 2010
Parliamentary Experience:
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, 2007- 08
Liberal Democrat Spokesman for the Department of Work & Pensions, 2005-07
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Social Exclusion, Feb-Jul 2007
Liberal Democrat Spokesman for disability issues, 2005 - 2007
Member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee 2005-2008
Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, 2007- 2010
Chair of the Liberal Democrat Manifesto Group, 2007- 2010
Biography:
Born in 1972, Danny Alexander spent his early years on Colonsay before his family moved to Glengarry and he went to Lochaber High School in Fort William.
He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford. In his early career he worked for the Scottish Liberal Democrats as a press officer and held senior communications roles at Britain in Europe, the European Movement and the Cairngorms National Park before being elected Liberal Democrat MP for the newly created seat of Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch & Strathspey in the 2005 General Election.
Danny joined the Liberal Democrats' shadow Work and Pensions team in 2005 and in July 2007 he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, holding the post until June 2008. He gave this up to concentrate on a new role as Chief of Staff to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and to co-ordinate the preparation of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto for 2010.
Danny was re-elected in the 2010 General Election with an increased majority of 8,765. In the days after the result Danny led the Liberal Democrat team in negotiations which resulted in the formation of a Coalition Government with the Conservative Party. He played a key role in drawing up the detailed programme for government and was initially appointed Secretary of State for Scotland Following the resignation of David Laws, he was promoted to become Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
The responsibilities of the role of Chief Secretary to the Treasury traditionally include negotiating with departments about budget allocations, public sector pay, welfare reform, and procurement policy. However, the coalition nature of Government has meant that Danny is involved in all aspects of Government policy by virtue of his membership of the ‘Quad’ of ministers responsible for the effective running of the coalition. He has overseen the largest restructuring of public spending in modern times and is widely credited as being one of the architects of the economic recovery. He has been instrumental in delivering a number of key Liberal Democrat policies in Government, most notably the raising of the personal income tax threshold which will reach £10,000 by April 2014.
Danny is also a member of the National Security Council and was appointed to the Privy Council in May 2010.
Danny is married with two daughters. His parliamentary responsibilities combined with having a young family do not afford a lot of time for hobbies but when he gets the chance, Danny enjoys hill-walking, fishing, cricket, travel and sports of all kinds.
Main photo is courtesy of Hendy Pollock
