Exclusive:Ian Murray sacking by Keir Starmer 'wasn't anything personal', says Labour cabinet minister

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said the former Scottish Secretary “did a brilliant job” and that “everyone’s very fond of Ian”.

But he said “reshuffles are reshuffles” and “people move around”.

Mr Murray’s sacking and replacement by Douglas Alexander sparked outrage among many Scottish Labour figures. The Edinburgh South MP also took to social media to express his disappointment.

He was then given a new job the next day, as a junior culture and science minister.

Speaking to The Scotsman ahead of a speech at the Scottish Investment Summit in Edinburgh, Mr Jones said: “Ian did a brilliant job for us, both in opposition and in government. There's no question about that.

“Douglas has picked up the brilliant work that Ian and his team had been doing in order to take that forward.

“I'm pleased Ian's doing a great job for us now in a joint departmental role between between DCMS and DSIT, working on some of these really important policy areas which are relevant, not just to the UK, but to the Scottish economy as well.

“Reshuffles are reshuffles. People move around. It wasn't anything personal. It's just the way that these things work sometimes.”

Mr Murray was the only Scottish Labour MP to win a seat at the 2015 and 2019 general elections. He served for six years in total as the only Scottish Labour MP, and spent five years as shadow Scottish secretary.

He became Scottish Secretary when Labour returned to government last year, but was sacked in last month’s reshuffle.

The sacking sparked a briefing war in which Scottish Labour figures criticised Mr Murray for not attending a party away day. One Scottish Labour MP also briefed Mr Alexander was a “wee p****” and that he had been gunning for Mr Murray’s job since he had been elected.

When asked about the briefing, Mr Jones said: “I'm not sure I saw all of that detail. Everyone's very fond of Ian and the great work that he did. There's no question about that, and that's why he's still a part of the part of the government.”

He refused to say whether the Prime Minister or Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar should resign if Labour does not win next year’s Holyrood election, adding: “I'm not contemplating a world in which Labour doesn't win the election next May.

“We're all working on the basis that that's going to be the outcome, and we're going to work really hard between now and then to prove to voters the difference the Labour government can make in Westminster and how much further we're going to be able to go for them if we also have a Labour government in Scotland.”