Pinsent Masons appoints Douglas Alexander as strategic adviser

Pinsent Masons today announced the appointment of former Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander as a strategic adviser to the firm.

Mr Alexander, who was until 2015 a member of the UK Parliament, served in both the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown cabinets. He has held several high-ranking positions in addition to his time at the Department for International Development, including as Secretary of State for Transport, Secretary of State for Scotland and Minister for Europe. He also served as the UK’s governor to the World Bank.

During opposition, Mr Alexander acted as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and, latterly, as Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Mr Alexander will work with the senior leadership team at Pinsent Masons to support debate among the firm’s clients on doing business responsibly. His remit will include engaging with the firm’s UK-based and international clients as they look to ensure their businesses are connected to their communities, are tackling poverty and inequality through investment, and are developing ever more prevalent and robust business ethics and compliance practices.

Mr Alexander will split his time between this and his roles as a senior fellow at Harvard University, visiting professor at King’s College London and advising U2 frontman Bono.

Richard Foley, senior partner of Pinsent Masons, said: “Douglas has a stellar reputation as one of the most capable and engaging politicians of his generation. At the heart of Douglas’ remit with us is the issue of responsible business and how organisations can rebuild bridges into society at a time when public trust is low.

Mr Alexander said: “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work further with Pinsent Masons. The firm has a reputation for innovation not just in how it serves its clients, but in how it strives to deliver positive change in the global communities in which it operates.

“It is a firm that seems to think differently to the mainstream and that is what attracted me to them. I look forward to working with Richard and the senior leadership team at the firm.”