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Douglas Alexander MP was appointed Minister of State
at the Department of Trade and Industry on 9 September 2004.
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Born in Glasgow in 1967, Mr Alexander grew up in
Bishopton, where his father was the local Minister until his recent
retirement. He attended Bishopton Primary and Park Mains High in
Erskine, and at the age of fourteen he joined the Labour Party.
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In 1984, at the age of 17, Mr Alexander won a
Scottish Scholarship to attend an international college in
Vancouver, Canada, for two years. After gaining the International
Baccalaureate, he returned to Scotland to study Politics and Modern
History at Edinburgh University. During this time, he Chaired the
University Labour Club, then the largest student Labour Club in the
country, and held a number of positions in his local Constituency
Labour Party.
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In 1988, he won a further scholarship to study for a
year at the University of Pennysylvania, an Ivy League University in
Philadelphia, USA. During his time in the States, he worked as a
Press Steward for the Dukakis Presidential Campaign, and worked for
a Democratic Senator on Capitol Hill.
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After graduating with a first class MA Hons Degree,
he began work as a Parliamentary Researcher and Speechwriter for
Gordon Brown MP, a position he held for a year, before returning to
Scotland to qualify as a lawyer. He graduated from Edinburgh
University LLB (Dist) in 1993, and gained his Diploma in Legal
Practice the following year.
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Mr Alexander was appointed Minister for e-Commerce
and Competitiveness at the Department of Trade and Industry in June
2001.
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In May 2002, he was appointed Minister of State at
the Cabinet Office, overseeing the work of the Government’s
influential Strategy Unit, the Central Office of Information, and
the Civil Service. In the June 2003 reshuffle, Mr Alexander
was promoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster.
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