Douglas Alexander: We’re going for win, not coalition

SHADOW foreign secretary Douglas Alexander has told his colleagues not to be distracted by the possibility of forming a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.

Ahead of the Labour Party conference in Manchester, Mr Alexander told The Scotsman his party needed to focus on within.

Mr Alexander said: “I am going early to Manchester on Saturday to see Manchester United at Old Trafford. I doubt Alex Ferguson starts his team talk by saying ‘listen lads today we are going for a draw’. He will say ‘we are going for a win’, and I want to see a majority Labour government. ”

But Mr Alexander, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, has also warned his party that they should prepare for the “possibility” of Mr Cable replacing Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader before the 2015 election, and Tory London mayor Boris Johnson replacing David Cameron.

He said: “If the Conservatives were to dump David Cameron for Boris Johnson they would risk making the same mistake that I believe David Cameron has made, which is to confuse the packaging with the product.

“The reason the Conservatives are so disoriented and David Cameron is so hollowed out as a political figure at the moment is because he promised to change the Conservative Party. He didn’t, and the Conservative Party is changing him.”

However, despite his party having a lead of up to 15 per cent in the polls, Mr Alexander has also claimed that they are “still the underdogs” going into the 2015 election.