WHEN Douglas Alexander was elevated to the role of Scottish Secretary last year, it didn’t go down well with some in the party.
If you recall, it came after his predecessor Ian Murray was brutally sacked over claims he didn’t go to Scotland enough.
One Scottish Labour MP told The Daily Record: “Douglas is a wee p***k who has been agitating for this job for over a year.”
They added: “If I had a pound for everyone who liked Douglas, I would have 50p.”
Not universally popular, then. But he certainly brought experience.
He held this same role between 2006 and 2007. And he was also previously chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, transport secretary and international development secretary in the cabinets of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
And he appeared to have at least one friend in high (or perhaps low) places – Peter Mandelson.
But that connection has come back to bite Alexander in recent days with the release of the most recent tranche of the Mandelson files.
Those papers, released earlier this week, showed Alexander was in regular contact with Mandelson ahead of his appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US, despite it being a matter of public record at the time that Mandelson had maintained his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction for paedophilia and sex offences.
It has also emerged that Mandelson, who has since been sacked as UK ambassador, introduced Alexander to contacts in the Global Counsel lobbying firm he co-founded in 2010.
Mandelson resigned from its board in 2024, but continued to own shares.
This comes amid reports that Global Counsel had sought work with companies linked to both the Russian and Chinese governments, including the Russian state investment firm Rusnano and the state-owned China International Capital Corporation.
The SNP have pounced, calling for Alexander to quit his role as Scottish Secretary as a result.
One of the party’s MSPs, Alex Kerr, stated: “The public will be extremely concerned about who, at the behest of the disgraced Lord Mandelson, Douglas Alexander was spending his time with.”
He continued: “During Peter Mandelson’s vetting process, a significant number of red flags were raised by the security services about his relationship with a number of his clients from China and Russia.
“Now we know he was putting Douglas Alexander in a room with unknown individuals – Alexander must now explicitly tell the public exactly who he met with and exactly what was discussed.”
Kerr then claimed: “Douglas Alexander was a mere puppet for his master Mandelson and these shadowy redactions just make this sinister affair all the more despicable.
“Douglas Alexander must resign and the public must be given full disclosure on whether our national security has been threatened by meetings at the instruction of Peter Mandelson.”
Of course, the backdrop to this embarrassment wasn’t exactly looking rosy for Alexander either.
Scottish Labour slumped to their worst ever result in the Scottish Parliament elections last month, eking out a measly 17 MSPs.
Alexander hasn’t so far accepted any responsibility despite being co-chair of the party’s campaign alongside deputy leader Jackie Baillie.
We previously reported on discontent in the Scottish Labour SEC (its governing body) over the result and the strategy employed.
If Alexander is indeed unpopular within the party but also continues to provide negative headlines and poor strategic advice – how much longer will he stay in the role?
Well, Keir Starmer is still PM, so who knows.
