Danny Alexander 'likely to lose' to SNP

Danny Alexander, the most senior Lib Dem cabinet minister after Nick Clegg, is likely to be swept away by the rising tide of SNP support.

The exit poll suggests that the SNP will win all but one of Scotland’s 59 parliamentary seats. Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has long been regarded as vulnerable.

The SNP candidate who may depose him is Drew Hendry, a local councillor who previously worked as a manager for a multinational company, according to the SNP website.

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Politicians and commentators from across the political spectrum have, however, cast doubt on the exit poll, suggesting that it may have overestimated support for the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon, the party leader, urged supporters to regard it with “huge caution” and said that she was not expecting to win 58 seats.

Danny Alexander has been MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey since 2005, and Chief Secretary to the Treasury since soon after the formation of the coalition in 2010. He was a member of “the quad”, the four most senior members of the cabinet, which also included David Cameron, Nick Clegg and George Osborne.