Danny Alexander

Being the fourth pillar in ‘The Quad’ – the senior leadership team of the UK Government made up of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander – the Chief Secretary has been unusually powerful in this parliament and as such he was always likely to feature high on this list. All spending and policy decisions are brought before – and argued amongst The Quad, and Alexander has exerted his influence wherever he could for himself and the Liberal Democrats in the most powerful part of government – George Osborne’s Treasury.  His quick rise from Head of Communications at Cairngorms National Park to Chief Secretary to the Treasury shows he clearly has some solid political ability, which we’d expect to see more of in the years to come, if he is able to defend his Highlands seat against the SNP in the coming General Election.