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Alistair Darling
Labour MP for Edinburgh South West

  • Also represented Edinburgh Central
  • Entered Parliament on 11 June 1987 — General election

Voting record (from PublicWhip)

How Alistair Darling voted on key issues since 2001:

  • Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals. votes
  • Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes
  • Voted strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war. votes
  • Has never voted on the hunting ban. votes
  • Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes
  • Voted moderately against greater autonomy for schools. votes
  • Voted very strongly for introducing ID cards. votes
  • Voted a mixture of for and against automatic enrolment in occupational pensions. votes
  • Voted moderately against encouraging occupational pensions. votes
  • Voted moderately for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. votes
  • Voted moderately for a wholly elected House of Lords. votes
  • Voted very strongly for allowing ministers to intervene in inquests. votes
  • Voted a mixture of for and against laws to stop climate change. votes
  • Voted moderately for a stricter asylum system. votes
  • Voted moderately for a smoking ban. votes
  • Voted a mixture of for and against a more proportional system for electing MPs. votes
  • Voted moderately for replacing Trident. votes
  • Voted moderately for more EU integration. votes
  • Voted strongly against increasing the rate of VAT. votes
  • Voted moderately for university tuition fees. votes
  • Voted against raising England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year. votes
  • Voted strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes
  • Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament. votes

Read about how the voting record is decided.

More on well-known issues (from the Guardian) & their full record

Topics of interest

Asks most questions about

  • Departments: Treasury, Transport, Defence, Business, Innovation and Skills, Work and Pensions

  • Subjects (based on headings added by Hansard): Military Bases, Higher Education: Scotland, Identity and Passport Service: Correspondence, Public Expenditure, East Coast Railway Line

(based on written questions asked by Alistair Darling and answered by departments)

RSS feed Most recent appearances

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the Law (25 Mar 2013)

“I shall follow up shortly the points made by the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds (Mr Ruffley) on the Bank of England, but first I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The big problem we face at the moment is lack of growth. Here we are, five years since the crisis hit most western developed economies, yet contrary to what has...”

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the Law (25 Mar 2013)

“With due respect to the hon. Gentleman, I anticipated that predictable nonsense. I am grateful to him for intervening, however, not least because he has given me another minute in which to make my case. As the Office for Budget Responsibility points out, the recession is taking far longer to come out of than any we have seen previously. The principal factor is that in 2007-08 we had a...”

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the Law (25 Mar 2013)

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but not in the way he intended, because that is nonsense too. Incidentally, in the leaked document from John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, the Scottish Government too faced up to some difficult decisions. The difference is that I and—to give them credit—the coalition...”

More of Alistair Darling's recent appearances

Numerology

Please note that numbers do not measure quality. Also, representatives may do other things not currently covered by this site. (More about this)

  • Has spoken in 9 debates in the last year — well below average amongst MPs.
  • Has received answers to 13 written questions in the last year — below average amongst MPs.
  • Replied within 2 or 3 weeks to a medium number of messages sent via WriteToThem.com during 2008, according to constituents.
  • Has voted in 47.29% of votes in this Parliament with this affiliation — well below average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
  • People have made 68 annotations on this MP’s speeches — well above average amongst MPs.
  • This MP's speeches, in Hansard, are readable by an average 17–18 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
  • 77 people are tracking this MP — email me updates on Alistair Darling’s activity.
  • Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 2475 times in debates — well above average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)

Register of Members’ Interests

2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Contract with Atlantic Books, Ormond House, 26/27 Boswell street, London WC1N 3JW for publication of book. The contract provides for a total advance payment of £75,000 prior to publication.
10 May 2012, I received a payment of £23,879.28 in respect of royalties from the sale of my book. No additional hours worked. (Registered 30 May 2012)
14 June 2012, I received a payment of £4,775.86 in respect of VAT due on royalties from book sales, registered on 30 May 2012. No additional hours worked. (Registered 21 June 2012)
In respect of the contract with Atlantic Books I have attended the following events . No fee was paid to me but transport and accommodation costs were met as follows:
9 June 2012, Hay Book Festival, 25 Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye; hotel accommodation for me and my wife; cost £225, and our return flights from Edinburgh to Birmingham; cost £259.62, were paid for by Atlantic Books. Car transport from Birmingham to Hay-on-Wye; cost £400 return, was paid by festival organisers. Hours: 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 21 June 2012)
15 June 2012, Althorpe Book Festival; transport costs from London to the festival and on to Edinburgh for me and my wife; cost £359.68, were paid by Atlantic Books. Hours: 2 hrs plus travel. (Registered 21 June 2012)
Fees for speeches paid by JLA Associates, 80 Great Portland Street, London W1W 7NW:
20 April 2012, I received a payment of £20,400 for speaking at a conference in Dubai. Transport costs of £2,669.82 and hotel accommodation at a cost of £326.07 were paid by the organisers, Falcon Group Administrative Services (UK) Ltd, 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 9BF. Hours: approx 2.5 days including travel time. (Registered 2 May 2012)
8 June 2012, I received a payment of £12,750 for speaking at an event organised by JC Flowers & Co UK Ltd. Hours: 3 hrs. (Registered 21 June 2012)
19 July 2012, I received a payment of £12,240 for speaking at an event organised by Emap/Retail Week in London. Hours: approx 3 hrs. (Registered 24 July 2012)
6 September 2012, I received a fee of £10,200 for speaking at a conference organised by Aberdeen Asset Management. Hours: approx 3 hours, plus travelling time. (Registered 18 September 2012)
27 September 2012, I received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at a conference organised by Apollo Management International LLP. Hours: approx 2 hours, including travel time. (Registered 11 October 2012)
19 November 2012, I received a fee of £12,240 for speaking at an event organised by British Property Federation, in London. Hours: approx 4 hrs. (Registered 26 November 2012)
11 December 2012, I received a payment of £12,240 in respect of a fee for speaking at an event organised by Slaughter & May LLP, London. Hours: 4 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
11 December 2012, I received a payment of £12,240 in respect of a fee for speaking at an event organised by Scor Insurance, London. Hours: 4 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
25 January 2013, I received a fee of £12,999 which included £249.60 in respect of travel costs for speaking at a seminar organised by Pru Health. Hours: 5 hrs. (Registered 8 February 2013)
22 March 2013, I received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at an event organised by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd, in Hampshire. Hours: approx 6 hrs, including travel time. (Registered 28 March 2013)
22 March 2013, I received a fee of £12,240 in respect of speaking at an event organised by the Automotive Fellowship International Ltd, in Buckinghamshire. Hours: approx 6 hrs, including travel time. (Registered 28 March 2013)
28 March 2013, I received a fee of £10,200 in respect of speaking at an event organised by Credit Agricole Group, in London. Hours: approx 4 hrs, including travel time. (Registered 28 March 2013)
8 June 2012, I received a payment of £1,200 from Associated Newspapers Ltd, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry street, London W8 5TT, for an article in the Mail on Sunday. Hours: 4 hrs approx. (Registered 21 June 2012)
Payments from MGN Ltd, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP:
22 June 2012, I received a payment of £720for an article published in the Sunday Mirror. Hours: approx 3 hrs. (Registered 25 June 2012)
5 September 2012, I received a payment of £600 in respect of an article published by the Daily Mirror. Hours: approx 2 hrs. (Registered 18 September 2012)
Payments from Guardian Newspapers, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GO, for writing articles for the Guardian newspaper:
8 December 2012, I received a payment of £342 Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 20 December 2012)
28 March 2013, I received a payment of £342. Hours: approx 2 hrs. (Registered 28 March 2013)
11. Miscellaneous
Unremunerated Director and Chairman of BetterTogether 2012 Ltd (from 1 June 2012). (Registered 21 June 2012)

Register last updated: 7 May 2013. More about the Register

View the history of this MP's entries in the Register

Expenses

Figures in brackets are ranks.Data from parliament.uk (source). Read 2004/05 – 2008/09 and 1st quarter 2009/10 receipts.

Type2008/09 (ranking out of 647)2007/08 (ranking out of 645)2006/07 (ranking out of 645)2005/062004/05 (ranking out of 659)2003/04 (ranking out of 658)2002/03 (ranking out of 657)2001/02 (ranking out of 657)
Staying away from main home£10,626 (497th) £9,837 (554th) £20,675 (364th) £19,436 £15,341 (481st) £15,406 (459th) £14,792 (525th) £15,756 (229th)
London costs£0 £0 £0 £0 £1,618 (joint 1st with 118 others) £1,574 (joint 1st with 101 others) £1,527 (joint 1st with 101 others) £1,227 (joint 1st with 81 others)
Office running costs£12,848 (510th) £19,085 (291st) £19,137 (425th) £20,919 £17,591 (378th) £16,151 (551st) £16,113 (joint 513th with 1 other) £10,259 (518th)
Staffing costs£97,284 (263rd) £90,933 (158th) £81,725 (409th) £83,991 £65,468 (532nd) £62,983 (540th) £52,399 (610th) £27,874 (636th)
Communications Allowance£9,960 (joint 243rd with 1 other) £7,579 (354th) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Members' Travel£8,504 (267th)1 £11,367 (164th)2 £12,045 (133rd)3 £12,360 £13,253 (208th) £13,633 (188th) £14,575 (156th) £11,375 (159th)
Members' Staff Travel£327 (223rd) £591 (178th) £362 (256th) £39 £0 £257 (344th) £0 £0
Members' Spouse Travel£5,781 (4th) £5,283 (4th) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Members' Family Travel£1,232 (13th) £4,391 (2nd) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Centrally Purchased Stationery£1,882 (530th) £423 (joint 534th with 1 other) £251 (621st) £595 £992 (297th) £399 (562nd) £580 (535th) £87 (644th)
Stationery: Associated Postage Costs£1,394 (491st) £1,745 (454th) £1,032 £1,964 (410th) £914 (576th) N/A N/A
Centrally Provided Computer Equipment  £1,021 (562nd) £914 (550th) £733 £1,412 (598th) £1,412 (587th) £1,412 (571st) £1,018 (558th)
Other Costs£0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Total£148,444 (345th) £151,904 (240th) £136,854 (341st) £139,105 £117,639 (446th) £112,729 (471st) £101,398 (527th) £67,596 (614th)

1 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Rail £1,956 (357th). Air £6,548 (59th).

2 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £248 (575th). Rail £1,086 (428th). Air £10,033 (39th).

3 Car £729 (556th). Rail £2,658 (281st). Air £8,658 (55th).