As a young political correspondent in the mid-1990s, for The Financial Times, part of my job was to get to know and to understand the big beasts of the Labour front bench in the House of Commons. It was clear that the Tories were in for a hiding, and Tony Blair's party would form the next government. So the views of the shadow cabinet were frankly of far more public interest than those of serving ministers - and the FT's coverage reflected that reality. That's how I came to know and respect Alistair Darling - Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010 - who died today, aged just 70. Formerly a left-wing firebrand, Darling was the epitome of New Labour - in the sense that he came to accept that UK elections are generally won and lost on the centre ground, and voters were unlikely ever to hand a radical left-wing Labour government the keys to Number Ten. As such, Darling and his front-bench New Labour colleagues tempered their views and their rhetoric, while retaining their determination to implement reforms which they felt would make Britain not just a more prosperous, but also a fairer society. From the 1997 landslide onwards, successive New Labour governments were characterised by increasing antagonism between the "Blairites" and "Brownites" - and their respective retinues of spin-doctors and advisors. Instinctively closer to his fellow Scot Gordon Brown, Darling was nevertheless the only really senior New Labour politician who was able to move between and broker deals between the Blairites and Brownites. This was a mark not only of his political and diplomatic skills, but also the wide respect for his judgement across both camps, the broader political and media class - and the public as a whole. Darling served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Work and Pensions Secretary, Transport Secretary and Trade and Industry Secretary. But he will be remembered for his role as Chancellor f the Exchequer during the 2008 financial crisis, during which he was widely and rightly seen, at a time of enormous economic and political danger, as a voice of calm reason. Darling was pivotal in shaping and implementing the rescue plans, in the UK and elsewhere, which were far from perfect, and the implications of which we continue to live with to this day, but which probably made the best of an extremely difficult situation. The importance of the positive role the UK Chancellor played at that crucial moment for the UK economy, and financial markets across the world, is accepted and endorsed by a broad range of politicians and scholars - again, rightly so. Political legacies are complex - and much will be written about Darling's contribution to UK public life over the coming weeks and months, not least by me ! I disagreed with Alistair Darling on some issues - but the written and in-person discussions I had with him over many years were always cordial. And the interviews I did with him were always willingly given and graciously conducted - including one for Channel Four Dispatches during lockdown, when we were both wearing masks, standing in the snow in the garden of his home in Edinburgh, making sure we were at least two metres apart! Darling put forward his ideas politely and coherently – and, despite his political seniority, he was always willing to listen to and engage with opposing views as well. This is an aspect of our public life - the art of disagreeing agreeably, constructively, without spite or rancour – that was very much in evidence when I became a journalist almost 30 years ago. These days, alas, we seem to have lost that noble and important art of agreeable disagreement - something that I will always associate with the memory of Alistair Darling. Alistair Darling (28 Nov 1953 – 30 Nov 2023) R.I.P.