Laws-less Treasury for Danny Alexander
Updated on 29 May 2010
Danny Alexander has replaced David Laws as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a job political correspondent Cathy Newman says is vital, after the expenses scandal claimed its first scalp in the coalition government.
Mr Laws stood down last night after the Telegraph newspaper revealed that he had claimed £40,000 in expenses to pay rent to his long-term partner.
He also 'came out' as gay following the allegations, something the newspaper stressed it did not necessarily intend.
Politicians across Westminster today praised Laws, the MP for Yeovil, and suggested he could make a speedy comeback to government.
In his letter accepting Laws' resignation, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Your decision to resign from the Government demonstrates the importance you attach to your integrity.
"In your short time at the Treasury, you have made a real difference, setting the Government on the right path to tackle the deficit which poses such a risk to our economy.
"I hope that, in time, you will be able to serve again as I think it is absolutely clear that you have a huge amount to offer our country."
Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes told Channel 4 News: "It's a blow to the coalition government. We had in place a highly talented, widely respected minister who had got off to a flying start, and he's no longer in officer after a few weeks.
"The government will go on, a very competent replacement has taken over, but without David we have lost significant talent."
Scottish Secretary Danny Alexander - who was relatively unknown before playing a starring role in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition negotiations following the inconclusive General Election result - has taken over his role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
38-year old Alexander, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, is effectively Chancellor George Osborne's number two, responsible for leading on the £6.2bn of public sector cuts the coalition government announced last week.
Former Conservative Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told Channel 4 News: "The difficulty he has is that at the moment he is a largely unknown figure. He doesn't have a background in finance or public expenditure issues.
"Even if he was the ideal person at this moment in time, it will take time, and means there is more of a burden on George Osborne's shoulders."
However, he was selected in part as the Tories were adamant that the role had to be taken by a Lib Dem, so that both parties would share the blame over cuts.
Despite this, Channel 4 News political correspondent Cathy Newman said some Tories were concerned about his rapid promotion.
"They are worried he has got his feet under the Treasury table," she said. "One senior Tory told me he shuddered to think of his inexperience. Because this is a really important job - he has to negotiate with every government department the biggest spending cuts since World War Two."
Why Laws stepped down
The Telegraph newspaper revealed at the weekend that Laws had claimed £40,000 to rent a room for five years from his long-term partner, lobbyist James Lundie - something which is banned in the parliamentary rules, as Channel 4 News discovered.
Mr Laws, the MP for Yeovil in Somerset, also chose to 'out' himself as gay - although the newspaper stressed it had not intended to reveal his sexuality.
For five years he claimed up to £950 a month to rent rooms in two properties owned by Lundie, who has worked as an advisor in the past to former Liberal Democrat leaders Lord Ashdown and Charles Kennedy.
In a statement Mr Laws, a millionaire former City banker, said he did not consider himself to be breaking the rules, but accepted this could be open to interpretation.
He said he had registered his expenses in this way with only his, and his partner's, privacy in mind.
"James and I are intensely private people," he said. "We made the decision to keep our relationship private and believed that was our right. Clearly that cannot now remain the case. My motivation throughout has not been to maximise profit but to simply protect our privacy and my wish not to reveal my sexuality."
In his resignation statement, he said he could not continue with the important task he had while facing personal issues of this magnitude.
"I hardly need say how much I regret having to leave the Treasury and such vital work, which I feel all my life has prepared me for," he said.
