Having cut the grass, mended the fence and kept an eye out for condemned mink around his 19th century cottage on Bernera, Alistair seems right at home in his island retreat.

Although admitting that due to the perhaps inconvenient invention of the phone and Internet, he can never quite escape the pressures of his job as Britain's second most important politician – he says he does feel 'totally relaxed' with island life.

"I can get away from things up to a point," he admitted. "The invention of the phone and the Internet has meant we are still in touch, but we are at the other end of the country and I've always felt totally relaxed here."

With the added pressure of holidaying in an area which is facing some of the highest fuel prices in the world and at one of the most challenging times for the Labour party nationally, the Chancellor may find it especially difficult to switch off this year - but he will try.

With a strong family connection to Lewis, Alistair has been a regular visitor to the island for as long as he can remember as his mother grew up in Stornoway with her family originally coming from Bernera. And the Darlings retain this link by staying in the family home which is the original blackhouse built by his great-great-grandfather in the 1850s.

Describing his earliest memories he said: "I probably first came up here in about 1954 – we used to come up every July for a month – we would come up through Mallaig and I remember you could smell the peat smoke as you approached the islands. Coming up here was a really big deal, we were living in England at the time and it would take two or three days to get here."

In a nostalgic mood, he recalls a perilous moment in his childhood in Stornoway which could have had tragic consequences.

"I remember falling into the pier at Stornoway Harbour when I was fishing for cuddies. It was pretty dirty in those days and I was covered in oil and fish. I remember my friend just watching on and my auntie thought I was a gonner but I managed to get out."

"I remember falling into the pier at Stornoway Harbour when I was fishing for cuddies. It was pretty dirty in those days and I was covered in oil and fish. I remember my friend just watching on and my auntie thought I was a gonner but I managed to get out."

His parents met in Stornoway in the 1940s when his father, who was a civil engineer, came to Lewis to work on a Herring Processing Factory and the rest as they say is history.

With his father's work, they moved around a lot and Alistair even attended the Nicolson Institute for a time – an experience his mother believes is the key to his great success!

Describing himself as a visitor and not an islander, he has also admitted that despite his mother and aunties all speaking Gaelic, it was something which thoroughly stumped him.

"There was a time when I could understand some Gaelic but I don't think it is something you can dip in and out of. My father tried to learn Gaelic but he tortured the language for so long, his mother in law asked him to speak English. I think it is good that so much effort is being made to teach young children, I suspect if it's not taught from the cradle it can be very difficult.

My mother spoke Gaelic to my aunties and that's what she did when she didn't want us to know what she was saying!"

Back to the present day and Alistair is planning to do spend his time in the great outdoors doing some maintenance and possibly even a spot of fishing.

"Since I've been here I've been cutting the grass, put the fence back up which the sheep have pushed down. We have quite a lot of friends and some relatives up there and my mother comes up quite a lot."

And even with the curious eyes of islanders, he says he is grateful for the peace and quiet and of course the privacy.

"People don't really notice us - we are not special, people do look if you are in the supermarket or something because they have seen you on telly but that's all really. People come up and have their opinions, a Minister is never off duty. Nobody forces you to go into politics, politicians need to listen to things they don't always want to hear and I think if we didn't we would pretty soon lose touch.

"We have been coming here for the last 50 years and probably will be for about the next 50 even after I've finished doing what I am doing just now."

Although much of his break is spent trying to take a step back from the stresses of his challenging day job, the man in charge of the nation's finances cannot have failed to notice the extortionate fuel prices which continue to hit islanders and are in danger of crippling the fragile fishing industry.

When asked why islanders are getting what many regard as a very raw deal, he agreed that it is a problem: "Fuel prices are a problem right across Britain and across the world although they have come down in the last few weeks. There is always a problem here and in the Northern Isles - paying on average 10p a litre more than the mainland. Whether its drivers or the fishing industry - points which Angus MacNeil has raised - the main problem is the crude oil prices - not just petrol and diesel but gas and electricity. That is one of the reasons I put off the extra 2p of fuel duty. This will be reconsidered at the next budget."

He added: "It is clearly something which is a concern. Duty is the same wherever you are but you are right that the VAT percentage depends on the price. There are higher fuel prices and the economy is slowing down."

However remaining cautiously optimistic for the future, he said he did not agree that Britain would face a recession in the coming months and in contrast believes that the economy will continue to grow.

"I think the economy will keep on growing, we have the fastest growing economy of the developed world. I don't agree that there is going to be a recession but the next 12 months is going to be difficult and we hope that oil prices will start to come down."

Although acutely aware of the island issues, and seeing first hand the sky high prices residents face, he admitted that they could not say when and if prices were start to fall.

"It would be a brave person who would predict when they would come down further," he warned.

Being the man responsible for the economic and financial matters of a country facing a downturn is surely an unenviable role, but is one which Alistair is content in.

And he gives credit to the British public for their understanding that some matters are outwith his control.

"Most people are aware of the credit crunch which started on the American housing market and the high oil prices," he stressed. "I think people understand this situation perfectly well and they ask us what we are going to do about it – quite rightly as we are elected representatives. This is one of the reasons why I cancelled the fuel duty rise."

And when pressed on the particularly critical situation facing the fishing industry, he conceded that his memories of Stornoway Harbour of yesteryear included a much bigger fleet.

"The Government are always ready to do what we can to help. If you look at Stornoway Harbour, the fleet there 20 years ago was so much larger and there were much larger lobster boats operating here in Bernera. Fuel costs must play a part in that and they are having a difficult time."

There is no denying the difficult economic situation currently facing the UK but for Alistair as a Labour politician, there are possibly even bigger worries.

With ongoing doubt over the future of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister amid possible leadership challenges, the saga of the leadership in Scotland and a looming by-election, these are difficult times indeed.

Nevertheless, Alistair is continuing to look on the bright side: "There is a difficult economic and political situation but I think we can turn things around. Politics is about choices and it is not a referendum on one party."

He pointed out that the UK was doing well in terms of science, in finance - despite the current problems and also in education.

One thing he is clear about is that he will continue to support Gordon Brown as the leader of the Labour Party.

So in his island idyll far away from the stresses and pressure of day to day life and work as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair has for the first time this year not planned more than three days ahead in his diary.

His return to London will depend on when he is 'summoned' but for now he is concentrating on more simple things: "I do not have a diary of more than three days as I am on holiday. And for now my most pressing problem is to unblock the drain!"