Douglas Alexander appointed Scottish Secretary as Ian Murray sacked in major reshuffle

Mr Murray said he was “hugely disappointed” to be leaving government following the surprise decision by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Friday afternoon.

The reshuffle followed the resignation of Angela Rayner after she was found to have breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice said Labour’s ratings were already at an all-time low.

"They are really are in deep doo-doo, and they are in just as much doo-doo as Jeremy Corbyn ever was,” he told The Scotsman. “This great post-Corbynite project is not looking very successful at the moment.”

Mr Murray, the MP for Edinburgh South since 2010, was previously his party’s sole Westminster representative north of the border. The SNP said his sacking was just “the latest sign of Labour Party acrimony”.

SNP MP Stephen Gethins said: “It is no wonder they have slumped 20 points behind the SNP in Scotland, when they are fighting like rats in a sack while failing to lift a finger to help families.”

Mr Murray was appointed Scottish Secretary when Labour swept to power last year. He twice served as shadow Scottish secretary when the party was in opposition.

His sacking came as a shock within Labour circles. Labour peer George Foulkes called it a “disgraceful decision”. On Thursday, he had accompanied the Prime Minister on a visit to BAE Systems in Glasgow, and he was expected to make a major announcement on defence in the city on Monday.

In a statement posted to social media, Mr Murray said serving as Scottish Secretary had been the honour of his life.

“I am hugely disappointed to be leaving government, with so much done and so much more to do, but I now look forward to spending a little more time with my wife and two beautiful girls, while continuing to serve the wonderful people of Edinburgh South,” he wrote.

He added: “I wish my former Cabinet colleagues, and those now joining, well. Every single one of them are in politics for the right reasons and are good people who I am certain will do great things for our country.”

Mr Alexander previously served as Scottish Secretary 18 years ago under Tony Blair, and was the International Development Secretary under Gordon Brown. In 2015, he famously lost his seat to the SNP’s Mhairi Black when she was just 20 years old.

He returned to frontline politics as the MP for Lothian East last year, and has served as a trade policy minister under Sir Keir.

He said: “It’s a real honour to have been appointed Secretary of State for Scotland by Sir Kier Starmer. I look forward to playing a key role in delivering the UK Government’s Plan for Change by boosting economic growth, putting more money in pockets and making life better for people in Scotland.

“There is a huge amount to be done, and I’m very much looking forward to making sure that Scotland continues to be at the very centre of the government’s work – including on our drive to clean power and ensuring our country’s security.”

The reshuffle followed Ms Rayner’s resignation as deputy PM, Housing Secretary and deputy Labour leader after Sir Keir’s ethics adviser said she failed to “heed the caution” contained within legal advice she received when buying an £800,000 property in Hove.

David Lammy will replace her as Deputy Prime Minister as well as being moved into a new role as Justice Secretary, after serving as Britain’s top diplomat, the Foreign Secretary, over the last year.

Shabana Mahmood, formerly the Justice Secretary, is the new Home Secretary, while Yvette Cooper has moved from her brief at the Home Office to take over Mr Lammy’s former job as Foreign Secretary.

With Rachel Reeves remaining in post as Chancellor, the appointment of Ms Mahmood and Ms Cooper to their new roles mean that for the first time in history the three so-called “great offices of state” are all filled by women.

Elsewhere, Pat McFadden, formerly a senior Cabinet Office minister, is set to take over a new “super ministry” comprised of the Department for Work and Pensions and the skills remit of the Department for Education.

Steve Reed has taken over Ms Rayner’s brief as Housing Secretary, leaving behind his role as Environment Secretary.

Darren Jones, a Labour rising star who was only days ago appointed to the new position of the chief secretary to the Prime Minister, also takes over Mr McFadden’s old Cabinet Office job: the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Sources within Downing Street suggested the Government had been refreshed and reinvigorated by the reshuffle, and would focus on making people feel better off, protecting the UK’s borders, and reforming and renewing public services.

The Government has been given a new “sense of purpose” by the shake-up, a source said.

It came after Ms Rayner admitted she had underpaid stamp duty on the flat in Hove, and referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent ethics adviser.

In a letter published on Friday, Sir Laurie said he believed Ms Rayner had acted in “good faith”, but that “the responsibility of any taxpayer for reporting their tax returns and settling their liabilities rests ultimately with themselves”.

Sir Laurie added: “She believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the caution contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought.”

The ethics watchdog said that Ms Rayner’s failure to settle her full stamp duty liability, along with the fact that this was only established following media scrutiny, led him to consider the ministerial code had been breached.

Ms Rayner told the Prime Minister in a letter on Friday that “I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice” and said she took “full responsibility for this error”.

In his response, Sir Keir said Ms Rayner would “remain a major figure in our party” and “continue to fight for the causes you care so passionately about”.

Mr Gethins added: “Voters will not forgive the Labour Party for taking the UK from bad to worse and breaking its promise to deliver change.

“We were told things would get better but, under the Labour Party , food and energy bills are rising, poverty is at record levels, unemployment is at a four-year high, the economy has been downgraded, public finances are deteriorating - and the vast majority of people think the UK is in a bad state and getting worse."

Mr Murray being Labour's only MP in Scotland , after the 2015 and 2019 general elections, led to the joke that the country boasted more pandas than Labour MPs - Edinburgh Zoo being home to two of the endangered creatures at the time.