Thirteen years ago, as Labour handed over power to the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat government, Rupert Harrison, the then chief of staff to George Osborne, noticed something about the man his boss was replacing as Chancellor.

“When we arrived in the Treasury in 2010, it was clear that Alistair Darling had inspired deep affection and loyalty from all of his officials. He also treated us gracefully and politely during the transition,” Harrison wrote on Twitter/X. “How should we all behave in political life? Check out the astonishing universal response on here to the sad news of Alistair Darling's death. And then try to #belikeAlistair.”

When the 2008 financial crash hit the world, Darling, who has died at the age of 70, faced one of the greatest crises in the UK’s economic history. With the country particularly exposed because of the size of its financial sector, the government needed to take bold, decisive action to steady the ship. Darling did just that – a judgment that Jeremy Hunt, the current Chancellor, generously expressed yesterday. “One of the great chancellors, he’ll be remembered for doing the right thing for the country at a time of extraordinary turmoil,” Hunt said.

Being in government can be stressful at the best of times; that Darling was able to tackle such a monumental crisis while still treating his staff in a way that won him their affection and loyalty speaks volumes about his character. And it stands in marked contrast to the revelations from the UK Covid Inquiry, with officials describing Downing Street as being “at war with itself” amid a “toxic” atmosphere as Boris Johnson’s government struggled to deal with the pandemic.

Darling’s other great political task was to lead the Better Together campaign ahead of the 2014 independence referendum. He did so with aplomb – his forensic debating skills were credited with helping to get the better of Alex Salmond in the first television debate. While he may not have had Salmond’s charisma, he more than made up for this with the power of his arguments and knowledge of his subject, exposing the gaps in the SNP’s planning, particularly over the future currency. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said leading the Better Together campaign was a job Darling “did not want to do, but he believed he was doing a service for Scotland”, and praised his “kindness, intelligence and good humour” – recurrent themes in the many tributes from across the political spectrum.

Despite the bitterness of the independence debate, Darling retained the respect of many nationalists. Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday that “though we were on opposing sides of the independence referendum – with the inevitable clashes that involved – I always found him to be a man of intellect and principle”.

This is how politics should be. There should be tough-talking and fiery debates over the great issues of the day, but the participants should always remember that they have a shared bond as fellow democrats who uphold the idea that we can peacefully resolve our differences, no matter how great. It is a credo a million miles away from the hard-left who chant hate-filled slogans like “Tory scum” during demonstrations or the hard-line, populist Brexiteers who view their opponents as “traitors” and “enemies of the people”.

As Chancellor, Alistair Darling had to deal with devastating effect of the 2008 financial crash on the economy (Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Not only did Alistair Darling play a leading, decisive role in saving the country from economic collapse and then saving the Union, he was also the epitome of what a democratic politician should be. And it is perhaps this quality – along with his dry sense of humour – that has prompted such widespread praise. As Rupert Harrison suggested, we would all do well to try to #belikeAlistair.

Alistair Darling dies at 70: The epitome of a democrat, former Chancellor helped save the economy and the Union – Scotsman comment

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