David Laws scandal has meant a step up the career ladder for MPs Moore and Alexander

THE fall-out from the first scandal of the new coalition administration saw Michael Moore unexpectedly elevated to the Cabinet and led to another promotion on the already meteoric career path of Danny Alexander.

Moore, the Lib Dem MP for Berwickshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirk, was last night appointed Scottish Secretary, meaning that the former Tory shadow Scottish secretary David Mundell has once again been overlooked as Scotland's man in the Cabinet.

Mundell, MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, remains stuck as a junior minister in the Scotland Office, having been leapfrogged by Moore, who was plucked from relative obscurity.

Moore faces the challenge of selling the coalition government to a Scottish electorate that has comprehensively rejected the Lib Dems senior coalition partners – the Tories.

Meanwhile Alexander has stepped up to take over as Chief Secretary of the Treasury following the resignation of David Laws, who quit last night following revelations involving his expenses.

Asked about the promotion of Moore over Mundell, a Scotland Office spokesman said: "There are a fixed number of Lib Dem positions in the Cabinet, so it was always going to be that way. David and Michael are in neighbouring constituencies, so they will work well together."

Moore has experience of dealing with coalition government, having been an adviser to Jim Wallace, the former Scottish Lib Dem leader, when he was negotiating his party's first partnership administration with Donald Dewar's Labour Party in 1999.

An Edinburgh University graduate, Moore was elected to parliament in 1997

and during Menzies Campbell's tenure as leader was foreign affairs spokesman. In parliament, he has also been the party's UK transport spokesman and a member of the Commons Scottish affairs select committee.

He and his wife Alison recently celebrated the birth of their first baby.

Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott welcomed the promotion of both men, saying: "(Moore] is a very close personal friend and I look forward to working with him. I also welcome Danny Alexander's move to the Treasury, particularly given the important taxation changes coming down the line to Scotland."

With Laws' departure, Alexander now faces the onerous task of implementing the coalition government's deficit reduction plan, set in train by his short-lived predecessor.

Until recently, the former press officer for the Cairngorm National Park was vitually unknown. But Alexander, whose second daughter was born just last week, holds an influential position within the Lib Dem leadership.

He was Mr Clegg's campaign manager in his successful bid to lead the party in 2007, and the pair have a close personal and political relationship.

Alexander, 38, had his own desk within the leader's office prior to his short-lived appointment to the Scotland Office and played a central role in Nick Clegg's election campaign.

The MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey entered the Commons as part of the 2005 intake with a 4,148 majority and was immediately made a member of the work and pensions team by then leader Charles Kennedy.

A spell as a whip followed and he later led on social exclusion issues before becoming the party's work and pensions spokesman.

He relinquished the role after he became chief of staff and chairman of the manifesto group.

He was educated at Lochaber High School, Fort William, before gaining a BA in politics, philosophy and economics from St Anne's College, Oxford.