Alistair Darling takes seat in House of Lords

Former chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling has taken his seat in the House of Lords.

Lord Darling of Roulanish. Picture: John Devlin

The Labour peer was chancellor between 2007 and 2010 when he had to deal with the onset of the global financial crisis.

Lord Darling also played a significant role in the Better Together campaign in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Meanwhile, another prominent figure in the ‘No vote’ movement, Danny Alexander, received a knighthood.

Sir Danny Alexander. Picture: John Devlin

The former chief secretary to the Treasury was one of the four Liberal Democrats who drew up the Coalition government agreement in 2010.

Alexander lost his Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey seat to the Scottish National Party’s Drew Hendry in May’s general election.

Accompanied by his wife Rebecca and daughters Isabel and Isla, he said: “It was a great honour and a wonderful ceremony and it’s all rather humbling.

“It was something I didn’t expect but it is a real honour to have the recognition for the work I did in the Coalition government - turning the economy around and getting the country on the right track.”