Murray says he is yet to receive explanation for sacking as Scottish secretary

Labour’s Ian Murray has said he still has been given “no explanation” about why he was sacked from Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet, adding his wife was “furious” about the decision.

Having at times been the only Scottish Labour MP at Westminster, the Edinburgh South politician was made Scottish secretary when Labour swept to power in July last year.

But he was unexpectedly removed from the role when the Prime Minister reshuffled his Cabinet in September, following Angela Rayner’s decision to quit as deputy prime minister.

Mr Murray said more than three months later – and despite “asking on a number of occasions” – he still does not know why he was replaced in the role by Douglas Alexander.

Speaking to Holyrood magazine, he said: “For me, the hardest part was the complete lack of any sort of recognition for doing a half decent job. That’s the hardest bit.

“The second hardest bit is having no explanation of why I was sacked, and as we sit here today I still don’t have that despite me asking on a number of occasions.

“The third bit is that I didn’t think I deserved the public humiliation of it all. I genuinely don’t know why it happened and that feels like an unfair gap.”

Speaking about his wife, he added: “It’s fair to say that Mariam was absolutely f****** furious.”

Mr Murray said his wife felt he was “massively underappreciated” in the Cabinet, as he tried to balance family life, working with dozens of Scottish Labour MPs elected last year, being in Government and travelling between London and Scotland.

“She was most angry about the fact that the Prime Minister didn’t have an explanation,” he added.

The MP also told how when offered his current ministerial posts in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, he took five hours to consider whether to accept them.

That came the day after his sacking as Scottish secretary, with Mr Murray recalling: “My big questions about coming back into Government were, why was it not offered to me at the time – and it wasn’t – why has the decision now been made and why?

“If I’m not good enough for the Scotland Office, why am I now number two in two major UK departments?”

However, he said he is now enjoying his “meaty policy portfolio” and the experience has taught him to “shout about” his achievements more – a lesson he believes Labour ought to take ahead of next year’s Holyrood election.

Mr Murray said the party has “already done so much” in Government at Westminster and it is “up to us as a party to shout about our achievements, because no-one else will do it for us”.