Was Andy Burnham right to keep Douglas Alexander as Scottish Secretary?
There had been speculation Mr Alexander could be replaced
It is fair to say Douglas Alexander is not universally adored, either within the Labour Party or outside it.
Critics recently accused him of being the “most absent man in Cabinet” amid the fallout from the party’s disastrous Holyrood election.
The Lothian East MP was co-chair of that campaign, which many saw as uninspiring and misguided.
Last month, a colleague told The Scotsman there was “real frustration and unhappiness with him from the group”.
Others defended him. “We have a small faction of Scottish Labour MPs trying to throw mud at the person who has used his influence to secure hundreds of millions of pounds of investment for Scotland, investment that has benefitted their constituents,” one said.
The discontent contributed to speculation Mr Alexander could be replaced as Scottish Secretary, perhaps by energy minister Michael Shanks or even former Better Together chief Blair McDougall. He is also widely believed to have fancied another big role in Cabinet.
Instead, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has chosen to keep him in place. This is understandable for two main reasons.
First, Scottish Labour lost the election largely because of the unpopularity of Keir Starmer and the UK Labour government.
The party’s campaign in Scotland was flawed, but in truth there was probably little it could do to shift the dial. The writing was on the wall, and if Labour’s defeat came as a surprise to some within the party then perhaps they should learn to read.
Second, Mr Alexander is a hugely experienced political operator. He held Cabinet roles under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was previously Scottish Secretary between 2006 and 2007.
Mr Burnham is extremely keen on further devolving power out of Westminster and into local communities, and Mr Alexander’s background could be very useful in putting that into practice.
However, if this is to be successful, it will be important to try to avoid pointless rows with the SNP government in Edinburgh.
In May, First Minister John Swinney traced a deterioration in the relationship between the UK and Scottish administrations to the appointment of Mr Alexander. This came amid an unedifying spat over whisky tariffs.
“Douglas Alexander masterminded the Labour Party’s worst ever defeat in Scotland, sat silent as thousands of oil and gas jobs were lost in Scotland and was shamed over disgraceful message exchanges with Peter Mandelson - he pulled the wool over Starmer’s eyes and it seems he’s repeated the trick with Burnham,” SNP MSP David Linden said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
“Scotland doesn’t need this servant of Westminster having any say over our future - if Andy Burnham is serious about where power lies on these islands then his first instruction to Douglas Alexander should be to respect the democratic will of the Scottish Parliament and give the Scottish people the right to decide our constitutional future.”
Clearly, there is no love lost between the SNP and Mr Alexander. Keeping him in post is hardly likely to help reset this relationship. But if Mr Burnham pursues his devolution agenda with vigour, some clashes are probably inevitable regardless.
Perhaps a seasoned hand is what Mr Burnham needs.
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