Mr Darling is stepping down from Labour’s front bench Ex chancellor Alistair Darling will defend his deficit-cutting strategy in his final speech to the Labour Party conference as a front bencher.
Labour fought the election on a pledge to halve the deficit in four years but Ed Balls has said that was a mistake.
Mr Darling is stepping down as shadow chancellor and there is much speculation about who will get his job.
New leader Ed Miliband has said his plans were “a starting point” but he believed Labour could do “more on tax”.
After Mr Miliband pipped his brother David to the leadership on Saturday there has been much speculation he will offer him the role of shadow chancellor.
But Mr Balls, and his wife Yvette Cooper – currently the shadow work and pensions secretary – are also expected to be in the running.
Mr Balls, who also ran for the leadership and was Gordon Brown’s chief economics adviser for years, has said he thought Mr Darling’s plan could not have been delivered through spending cuts.
“If we don’t have a credible plan, frankly, people stop listening to you ”
Alistair Darling Shadow chancellor
BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said Ed Miliband was under pressure from the trade unions and others on the left to propose much slower cuts – or none at all for two years.
Neal Lawson, of the centre left pressure group Compass, told the BBC there were real concerns about cuts leading to a “double dip” recession: “All bets are off now, we have a new leader, we have a new generation and these are now changed and very different circumstances.”
But Mr Darling told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the approach I took is a sensible one. There is no doubt we have a very high level of borrowing, we need to get it down, but we need to do it in a way that doesn’t damage the economic or social fabric of the country.”
He said he shared concerns the coalition government, which has pledged to eliminate the £155bn budget deficit in five years, was running the risk of derailing economic recovery.
But he said: “We can’t ignore the fact that borrowing went up for a reason but now I think we must begin the task of getting the borrowing down because if we don’t have a credible plan, frankly, people stop listening to you and if they stop listening to you, that’s a disaster.”
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday the new Labour leader Mr Miliband suggested he would adopt a more “cautious” approach on cutting the deficit than Mr Darling.
“Alistair Darling’s plans are a starting point in terms of the timing of the deficit reduction. I have said I think we can do some more on tax.”
Mr Darling told the BBC he had spoken to Mr Miliband and he was confidence he would stay on the centre ground of British politics.
“I’m greatly reassured that he is realistic, he’s got a lot of common sense, he is not going to do something that is irresponsible.
He said nothing had changed to persuade him that his policy was not the right approach, but added: “As events go on … of course Ed and the new shadow chancellor are entitled to look at these things.”
Nominations have opened for elections to 19 shadow cabinet posts, including shadow chancellor. MPs vote for those colleagues they want to see on the top team – but the individual briefs are handed out by the party leader.
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