Douglas Garven Alexander
He was born in Glasgow in 1967 and grew up in Bishopton, where his father was the local Minister. Aged fourteen he joined the Labour Party. In 1984, at the age of 17, he studied a for 2 years at an international college in Vancouver, Canada before returning to Scotland to study Politics and Modern History at Edinburgh University. After graduating he worked for Gordon Brown for a year, as a SPAD.
He joined the British American Project (BAP) an exclusive American financed neo-liberal political network and is also a senior member of the left leaning Fabian Society, a secretive organisation driven by the ideology of the supremacy of the “British State” over any other political formation.
Mentored by Gordon Brown and guided by Tony Blair his rise to the top echlon of the Labour Party was spectacular. In 2006 he was promoted to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport and Scotland.
The 2007 Scottish General Election
The “New Labour” Government was in crisis. Blair, in defiance of the wishes of the public had taken the country to war in support of an American invasion of the sovereign state of Iraq and had added to the debacle by aiding an American invasion of Afghanistan. Both decisions proved to be costly military and political disasters. And there was the “Cash for access” scandal involving the New Labour leadership.
The setbacks in popularity alerted Blair and Brown to the possibility of a humiliating SNP victory in Scotland and something needed to be done fast to avert a political disaster which might lead to a bid for Scottish independence from a resurgent SNP under the inspiring leadership of Alex Salmond whose appointment had galvanised his moribund Party.
Alex Salmond, alert to the trickery of “New Labour” petitioned Westminster seeking a transfer of the organisation of Scottish General Elections to the authority of the Scottish Government. His request was refused. Westminster retained the right to organise Scottish General Elections and Douglas Alexander, the part-time Secretary of State for Scotland would, in addition to leading Labour’s campaign in Scotland, also take charge of the organisation of the process.
Alexander moved fast and in a reversal of previous successful arrangements he decided on the use of two separate ballot papers for constituency and regional lists. Further complicating matters he decided that Local Council Elections would be held at the same time as the parliamentary election and that all election selections would be printed on one ballot paper.
Alec Salmond, Civil servants and an independent marketing firm all warned that the use of such ballot forms would lead to voter confusion and a higher-than-average number of rejected votes. But their concerns were ignored. Even when faced with public critisim Alexander and his governing, (Labour) party insisted the changes were extremely popular.
In the election the Scottish National Party (SNP) emerged as the largest party with 47 seats, closely followed by the incumbent Scottish Labour Party with 46 seats. The Scottish Conservatives won 17 seats, the Scottish Liberal Democrats 16 seats, the Scottish Greens 2 seats and one Independent (Margo MacDonald) was also elected.
Alexander was praised by Labour Party mandarins since he had almost, “saved the day” for Labour. But the elections had been tainted by a chaotic voting process in which in excess of 146,000 votes had been declared void. The largest in electoral history. 17 MSP’s were elected to Parliament with majority’s lower than the number of spoiled ballots in their constituency.
There was a public outcry and, “Returning Officers” formally voiced their discontent. Alexander, the accountable person for the elections, said there would be a statutory review of the election under the auspices of the Labour Party dominated “Electoral Commission”.
The Scottish Electorate was outraged and demanded an independent inquiry which was at first denied but public pressure forced Blair to concede and an inquiry was commissioned.
At the end of an extensive, lengthy inquiry, an official report submitted by, Ron Gould, (a senior Canadian election official), heavily censured Alexander and the Labour Party stating that ministers in the Labour Scottish Government and at Westminster together with Alexander’s political, “self-interested” moves, (as the Labour Party in Scotland’s election supremo), had abused their, “offices of state” making decisions about the election on “party political interest grounds”, with voters treated as an “after-thought.”
18 Sep 2014: Scottish Independence Referendum
Scot’s failed to heed the warning from 2007 and allowed the “Electoral Commission” free rein over the rules governing the 2014 Independence Referendum and were denied by another flawed process which had been loaded against a “Yes” vote. The Scottish Government must exercise complete control (overseen by international observers) of any future future referendum.
22 Sep 2014: Independence Referendum
Alexander, in a major speech, in Manchester, to the Labour Conference thanked the many English students and Labour Party fifth columnists that had invaded Scotland in the course of the referendum in support of the “Better Together” fear campaign. He said:
“Conference, we gather here in Manchester just days after a defining decision for the United Kingdom. The referendum campaign in Scotland was about more than party politics. It was about who we are, what we believe and what we hope for as one nation. And when, as Scottish supporters of the Union, we sent out the call to our friends and comrades in the Labour Party in England you answered that call. By coming to campaign alongside us, you demonstrated solidarity in action”.
Comment: The referendum was supposed to be about Scot’s deciding the future of their country. The bussing of many thousands of English born labour supporters was yet another example of the Unionist party’s philosophy of, “bugger the rules and rights win at any cost”.
caltonjock 