“MY CONSTITUENTS come first” was the clear message delivered by Lothian East’s new MP Douglas Alexander.

Residents went to the polls last Thursday to elect their new Westminster representative in the rejigged constituency covering the majority of East Lothian.

And with a huge 13,265 majority, Mr Alexander became Labour’s first MP in East Lothian since Martin Whitfield lost his seat to the SNP in 2019.

READ MORE: Labour's Douglas Alexander wins Lothian East with huge majority

Two days after the election, Mr Alexander – a former Cabinet Minister in the Labour Governments of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – was named Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade by new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Speaking to the Courier on Monday, Mr Alexander said: “Of course, as for any diligent member of Parliament, constituency comes first.

“I will be speaking to the team this week, establishing systems and structures and staffing to make sure I have an effective constituency representation and can represent constituents’ interests and deal with cases on their behalf as effectively as I possibly can.

“The people of Lothian East have given me this opportunity – I will always make sure I am speaking up for them and serving them.”

Mr Alexander was named Labour’s candidate for the constituency in February last year.

Since then, he has “really enjoyed campaigning” as he visited people from throughout the county.

The new MP highlighted the state of the NHS and the cost-of-living crisis as the two topics that most regularly came up on doorsteps.

He added: “People feel we are living in a country where everything costs more.”

READ MORE: AS IT HAPPENED: General Election 2024 - Labour wins Lothian East

Labour had lost the East Lothian seat to the SNP’s Kenny MacAskill in 2019, Mr MacAskill – who would later defect to Alba in 2021 – holding a majority of 3,886.

However, mirroring the picture across the country, Labour stormed back last week, Mr Alexander beating SNP candidate Lyn Jardine into a distant second spot.

The newly elected MP, who lives in the county, was delighted with the result and told the Courier: “I’m incredibly humbled, excited and determined to do a good job for the people of Lothian East after the victory on Thursday evening.

“It is exciting, challenging and important. I am really looking forward to getting down to work.”

It has been a busy few days so far and Mr Alexander revealed that he had received a very important phone call on Saturday night.

He said: “I was watching the football – England playing in the quarter-finals [of the Euros] on Saturday evening.

“As Trent Alexander-Arnold’s penalty hit the back of the net, my phone rang and that was Downing Street saying: ‘Can you hold for the Prime Minister?’

“Clearly, he is as keen a football fan as we have read about – he waited until he knew England were through before picking up the phone and offering me the position as Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade. I was humbled and delighted to accept that offer.”

One of the key issues moving forward is meeting the country’s energy needs. Torness Power Station, by Dunbar, started generating power in 1988 after eight years of construction.

However, the nuclear power station, which employs about 550 full-time EDF employees and more than 180 full-time contract partners, is to stop generating power in 2028.

Mr Alexander has been clear in his “personal support” of the station and felt opposing nuclear power in Scotland was “the wrong choice”.

He was keen to explore the possibility of nuclear power continuing to have a home in the county beyond 2028.

Last week’s result marked the latest chapter in a lengthy political career that had seemed over for Mr Alexander.

The 56-year-old had been MP for Paisley South and then Paisley and Renfrewshire for 18 years, from 1997 to 2015.

However, Mr Alexander, who was Shadow Foreign Minister under Ed Miliband at the time, lost his seat in Labour’s near-total Scottish wipeout of 2015, infamously unseated by a then-21-year-old Mhairi Black of the SNP, who then held the seat until stepping down at this election.

Mr Alexander said that he had not given thought to returning to politics until he was approached about standing in East Lothian.

He said: “For most of the last decade, I have been out of Parliament for nine years, I have been building a professional life outside of Parliament.

“I have been teaching in some of the world’s greatest universities and establishing a business.

“I learned a great deal far away from politics.”

Meanwhile, another county resident, Kirsty McNeill, was elected after standing for Labour in Midlothian.

She has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland by the Prime Minister.