Alistair Darling, who served as chancellor below Gordon Brown, has died on the age of 70, his household has confirmed.
The Labour Party stalwart grew to become a family title when the then-prime minister gave him the keys to the Treasury again in 2007 – working the division all through the worldwide banking disaster and staying in publish till Mr Brown misplaced the election in 2010.
But he had been a presence in Tony Blair’s authorities from the beginning, starting as chief secretary to the Treasury in 1997 following Labour’s landslide victory, and occurring to run quite a lot of departments – together with work and pensions, transport and commerce.
Politics newest: Tributes to former chancellor flood in from throughout UK
Lord Darling’s household confirmed the information on Thursday, saying he had died after a brief spell in Western General Hospital below the “wonderful care” of the most cancers workforce.
In their assertion, they described him as “the much-loved husband of Margaret and beloved father of Calum and Anna”.
After the information was introduced, tributes poured in from all sides of the political spectrum, led by Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer, who mentioned he had “lived a life devoted to public service”.
He mentioned Lord Darling’s “calm expertise and honesty” as chancellor helped information the nation via the 2008 monetary disaster, however that his “greatest professional pride” was serving his constituents in Edinburgh as an MP between 1987 and 2015.
Echoing the sentiment, ex-prime minister Mr Brown tweeted that he “like many, relied on his wisdom, calmness in a crisis and his humour”, including: “He will be missed by all who knew him.”
In one other assertion, Mr Blair mentioned: “He was highly capable, though modest, understated but never to be underestimated, always kind and dignified even under the intense pressure politics can generate.
“He was the most secure of secure fingers. I knew he may very well be given any place within the Cabinet and be depended upon. I preferred him and revered him immensely as a colleague and as a buddy.”
One of his Conservative successors, Jeremy Hunt, described him as “one of many nice chancellors”, saying he would be “remembered for doing the fitting factor for the nation at a time of extraordinary turmoil”.
And the woman hoping to follow in his footsteps to the Treasury, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, said she would miss “his recommendation and his counsel – however, greater than something I’ll miss his friendship, his kindness and decency, his humour and his heat”.
Despite being Born in London, Lord Darling got here from an extended line of Scots, and returned to the nation for varsity, earlier than going to the University of Aberdeen, the place he grew to become president of the Student’s Representative Council.
After graduating, he grew to become a solicitor, however having joined Labour aged simply 23, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than he modified course to enter politics, being elected as a councillor on the Lothian Regional Council in 1982.
Then Mr Darling, he grew to become the MP for Edinburgh South within the 1987 election, ousting the Conservative candidate from the seat. When that constituency was abolished in 2005, he ran for – and gained – the seat of Edinburgh South West till he left the Commons in 2015.
Lord Darling additionally performed a outstanding position within the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 because the chairman of the “Better Together” marketing campaign.
Former first minister and and SNP chief, Nicola Sturgeon, mentioned regardless of the “clashes” the pair had over the nation’s future, she “always found him to be a man of intellect and principle”, including: “He made a significant contribution to politics and public life.”
Lord Darling grew to become a peer in 2015 – named as Baron Darling of Roulanish – however he retired from the Lords in 2020.
His former cupboard colleagues from each the Blair and Brown years had been amongst these marking his passing, with Hilary Benn calling him “an able, calm and thoughtful colleague” and Jacqui Smith praising his “warm, humble approach”.
From the opposite facet of the Commons, former Tory prime minister Sir John Major described Lord Darling as “a decent man, who brought civility, reason and intelligence to politics”, whereas David Cameron mentioned he was “thoroughly kind”.
Source: information.sky.com”