Former United Kingdom chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling made a significant contribution to keeping his country’s economy afloat during the 2008 financial crisis, and played a pivotal role in keeping the kingdom united when he helped organise the campaign against Scottish independence. Darling was born near London but his family were Scots and he returned there to study, gaining a law degree from the University of Aberdeen. He joined the Labour Party in 1977 and in 1982 was elected to the Lothian Regional Council, on which he served until entering Parliament in 1987 after winning in Edinburgh Central. When Labour won the treasury benches a decade later, Tony Blair made Darling a minister; Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, named Darling as his successor as chancellor. Throughout his ministerial career, Darling was regarded as a pair of safe hands who could do any job well, although his career earned a black mark in 2009 after a mistaken expenses claim made headlines. When Labour lost office, Darling stepped back from politics, but returned to the fray in 2014 as a leading figure in the Better Together campaign, which campaigned against Scottish independence in the unsuccessful referendum of that year. In 2015, Darling received a life peerage. He died on November 30, aged 70. — Agencies
