Banker and politician. Born in Edinburgh, Alexander was raised on Colonsay and then Invergarry, He was educated at Lochaber High School and St. Anne's College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He served as a press officer for the Scottish Liberal Democrats (1993-94), and then as Director of Communications at the European Movement (1996-99) and the Britain in Europe campaign (1999 - 2004). He was then briefly Head of Communications for the newly created Cairngorms National Park (2004-05) before gaining the Seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey in the UK Parliament following the General Election of 2005.
Alexander became a shadow spokesman for Work and Pensions in 2005, with responsibilities for disability issues, and joined the Scottish Affairs Committee. He was appointed Shadow Minister for Social Exclusion (2007), later the same year becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He was next appointed Chief of Staff to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
Following the 2010 General Election, Alexander was one of the negotiators of the Coalition Agreement with the Conservatives which brought the Liberal Democrats into power for the first time in 70 years. He then served briefly as Secretary of State for Scotland, then as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2010-15). He lost his seat to the Scottish National Party in the 2015 General Election, and pursued his career in banking, as a Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
He was knighted in 2015.
