He was Labour’s UK election co-ordinator who lost his Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat to 20-year-old student and rising star of the SNP Mhairi Black.
But Douglas Alexander appears to have landed on his feet with a new role hobnobbing with rock royalty Bono.
The former Secretary of State for International Development joined the U2 frontman on a private jet recently when he flew from Turin to Rwanda after a gig in the Italian city.
Alexander, who was also shadow Foreign Secretary before voters cut short his political career in May, was with a delegation from Bono’s charity One Foundation.
The singer is understood to have personally paid to charter the jet which had a polished cream interior and boasted leather armchairs which recline into beds.
Joining Bono and Alexander on the plane was Tom Freston, the MTV founder and ViceNews board member, who is also chairman of One, Mario Batali, a New York celebrity chef, and Anne Finucane, vice-chairman of the Bank of America, who oversees dispersal of the bank’s multi-billion charitable foundation.
The visit was for the benefit of the charity’s private sector partners, which include Apple, Starbucks, Facebook and Coca Cola.
The group that Alexander joined were taken to Rwanda to see what had been achieved by One.
Their first port of call was to a University Teaching Hospital in capital city Kigali where Alexander was pictured behind Bono as the Irish superstar hugged staff.
The former MP, who lost his seat despite spending £47,500 – the second highest in Scotland – on his local campaign, also met dignitaries and spent time at a solar energy farm.
A source who was with the delegation, but asked not to be named, said: “Douglas Alexander seemed like a quiet man, very pleasant, but low key.
“I wondered why he was there but maybe he was on Bono’s radar because of his previous role as minister for overseas aid.
“He joined the party in Turin, I think he had flown over from the United States, and I was introduced to him there.
“The first thing we did when we landed in Kigali was meet local luminaries. He wasn’t pushing himself to the fore but he was clearly very interested in what was going on.
“At one stage we went to a solar energy farm which provides a small percentage of Rwanda’s electricity needs. He was walking around and listening intently to what was said.
“He didn’t appear to be Bono’s right hand man in waiting but they spoke regularly. He seemed to be there because of his interest in international development.”
It is not known whether Alexander received any payment for joining Bono on the trip.
A Labour Party source said: “He has some sort of job with Bono’s charity. People like Douglas operate on a different plane of existence from the rest of us so no one knows the details of the arrangement.
“He is very well connected after serving as Secretary of State for International Development and shadow foreign secretary so it comes as no surprise that he was with Bono in Rwanda.”
A source at the U2 frontman's charity said: “He was on our trip because he was obviously international development minister and he has connections.”
A spokesman for One Foundation declined to comment. Douglas Alexander did not respond to a request for comment.
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