Exclusive:Allies hit back as anonymous MPs brand Douglas Alexander 'most absent man in cabinet'
Disgruntled MPs have criticised the Scottish Secretary for “his failures in the leadership of the Scottish election campaign”, while allies have rushed to his defence.
Anonymous Scottish Labour MPs have accused Douglas Alexander of being “most absent man in Cabinet” sparking as furious row as allies rushed to his defence.
Some disgruntled MPs spoke to The Scotsman to criticise the Scottish Secretary for “his failures in the leadership of the Scottish election campaign”.
But others have come out to back the Lothian East MP, and pointed to his continued presence in Scotland.
Far from absent, they highlight his campaigning for the forthcoming by-elections in Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry in recent days. He also attended the memorial service in Dunblane Cathedral for former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace, and this week has been working to raise the issue of Scottish World Cup fans having their ESTAs rejected.
Mr Alexander was campaign director for last month’s Holyrood election - in which Scottish Labour slumped to its worst defeat since devolution.
The anonymous Scottish Labour MPs allege Mr Alexander has “disappeared completely since” and that “basically every tweet from him since the election has been about dead people”.
Just days after the defeat Mr Alexander was given a grilling by MPs at a meeting of Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party in Westminster.
One MP said there was “real frustration and unhappiness with him from the group” but that he gave “usual empty platitudes”.
They added that there was a frustration about how he was running the Scotland Office.
The MP said: “Douglas came to the Scottish Labour MPs group as Secretary of State and co-chair of the Scottish election campaign and was grilled for two hours on what went wrong at the election.
“All he could give was his usual empty platitudes and blaming everyone else. There was real frustration and unhappiness with him from the group not just at the campaign but the fact he’s disappeared completely since and seems to have given up on the Scotland Office.”
The MP added that Mr Alexander had tweeted just six times in the month after the election, and five of these “were about deaths”.
One MP said: “The group knows exactly who these small band of malcontents are and are sick to the back teeth of this behaviour.
“They’ve briefed constantly for two years and are at it once again. They need to get a grip.”
Another MP added: “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.
“They should be thanking him and hoping for more!”
Glasgow East MP John Grady said: “We are all deeply disappointed by the election results but these leaks and briefings from a small group of colleagues are unproductive, inaccurate and only serve our opponents.
“[Scottish Labour leader] Anas Sarwar, [deputy leader] Jackie Baillie and Douglas Alexander worked tirelessly in the election.”
Chair of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party Richard Baker - who is MP for Glenrothes - said: “As you would expect we had a group meeting after the results came in.
“It was a constructive conversation not only about the results but about future campaigns.
“Douglas has been in regular contact with members of the Scottish PLP and a regular attendee of the Scottish Labour Group Meetings.
“Fife Labour MPs and MSPs were with him on Friday at a public event in Kirkcaldy and I then travelled with Douglas to campaign in both our by elections this weekend.”
Mr Alexander was made Scottish Secretary in September last year. Sir Keir Starmer caused uproar among Scottish Labour when he sacked the then Scottish Secretary Ian Murray from cabinet.
Mr Murray was the sole Scottish Labour MP elected in 2015 and 2019, and had served as the shadow Scottish secretary for years in opposition. This had earned him a fair amount of popularity in the party north of the Border.
The outrage caused the Prime Minister to return Mr Murray to government, as a junior minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Mr Alexander returned to the House of Commons in 2024, nine years after losing his Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat. He was immediately made a trade minister, before returning to cabinet last year. He had served in the cabinet during his first tenure as an MP as Scottish Secretary, International Development Secretary and Transport Secretary. He was also shadow foreign secretary when Ed Miliband was Labour leader.
A spokesperson for Douglas Alexander said: “The election results of course were a disappointing and difficult day for the Scottish Labour Party.
“Scottish Labour offered Scotland a real chance for change, and a focus on the day to day issues of the NHS, the cost of living, education and communities – but ultimately given we lost the election we are right to be reflecting upon the response of voters.”
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