The lantern-jawed Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has come a long way from when, as a young child, he used to sleep in the bottom drawer of his grandmother�s bedroom dresser in a Glasgow tenement.
The lantern-jawed Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has come a long way from when, as a young child, he used to sleep in the bottom drawer of his grandmother's bedroom dresser in a Glasgow tenement. He now proudly sits in slightly more auspicious surroundings: around the cabinet table of the UK Government.
From the Georgian splendour of Dover House, the architectural jewel in Whitehall that is home to the Scotland Office, the 41-year-old son of a pipe-fitter is just two months into his new role and, by all accounts, enjoying it.
"Scotland's man in the cabinet rather than the cabinet's man in Scotland," he declares.
It is curious how Gordon Brown was happy to see Des Browne, the previous Scottish Secretary, spending only a fraction of his time looking after Scotland and spending most of it as Secretary of State for Defence, while the Prime Minister now feels the need to have Mr Murphy spending all his ministerial time focused on Scotland. It could not have anything to do with the fact Alex Salmond and the SNP have for months been running rings round Labour north of the border?
Declaring how Mr Browne had handled "a near- impossible situation exceptionally well", Mr Murphy denies his appointment was primarily made for the benefit of the Labour Party.
"It wasn't working effectively despite Des's and David Cairns's enormous efforts. Particularly at this time of the economic crisis, it was felt Scotland again needed a full-time Secretary of State. Ultimately, in these jobs you are not judged by assertions but by your actions."
With a mantel clock ticking loudly in the background, the MP for East Renfrewshire charmingly argues that his job is not to get involved in the tribal mud-wrestling that is the stuff of party politics. "I don't see my role as a party political one," he says with a straight face. "It's a job about doing what's best for Scotland and I will work with anyone to do that job."
When it is suggested Mr Browne played the bad cop in regards to the SNP and he was now coming across as the good cop, Mr Murphy laughs. "I've never been called a good cop before. Scotland expects politicians to set aside occasionally petty differences that clutter Scottish politics and work together. There's never going to be a mind-numbing uniformity of opinion. The SNP and the Labour Party have different visions for Scotland."
The non-party politician cannot resist a snipe at the SNP and momentarily his zen-like serenity evaporates. "There is zero patriotism in saying that Scotland should be like Iceland." He speaks of his great pride in how "Scotland is probably the most influential smallest country in the world by virtue of our membership of the UK" because it belongs to the EU, UN and G8.
Mr Murphy has climbed the greasy pole of government rather unnoticed and has not attracted the attention that some of his more, say, flamboyant colleagues have.
Quietly spoken with the farmside manner of a country vet, he has moved quietly from being a humble bag-carrier to Helen Liddell, the former Scottish Secretary, through the steep learning curve of the whips' office, on to the plateau of the Cabinet Office and then to the complex world of Work and Pensions.
However, it was his work as Europe Minister, fending off the Conservative brickbats over the Lisbon Treaty, that won him plaudits from colleagues and which convinced Mr Brown to elevate him to the top drawer of British politics.
Of course, key to all independence-versus-unionist arguments is money and the powers that Holyrood has. Asked why the PM recently claimed there was a "problem" that the Scottish Parliament could spend money but not raise it, warning signs immediately appear in the Secretary of State's eyes. He begins to wax about the Calman Commission, but I suggest that if the PM thinks there's a problem, what does he think is the solution? The fish does not bite. "We are not going to second-guess the commission."
I suggest Mr Brown was admitting there was a problem of accountability. He smiles and says: "I'll give you another version of the same answer if you want." Third time lucky. Is he in favour of the status quo? He laughs and even apologises. "Let the commission run its course. We are looking forward to the report."
The UK Government's submission to the commission caused some controversy with suggestions that Westminster was seeking to grab back planning powers so that it could build nuclear power stations in Scotland.
Mr Murphy dismisses such talk as "utter rubbish" and lambasts the SNP's position as "bad judgment and bad policy". Stressing how the UK Government's mixed energy policy was the sensible one, the minister again slips into a party political attack, accusing the Nationalists of posturing by putting "party before country".
At this juncture, the Secretary of State is asked about the Act of Settlement and, for the first time, denounces it as unfair, discriminatory and not in tune with modern Britain. Interestingly, he also reveals that the UK Government is working behind the scenes on this and that he wants progress on change before the next General Election. It is a complicated issue but it looks as if the PM is finally determined to grasp the constitutional nettle.
Asked if he took any responsibility on behalf of the UK Government for the credit crunch and the economic downturn, he contemplates the ceiling for several seconds. He begins to talk about the international context, but I drag him back to domestic politics and the charge that he and his colleagues helped inflate the bubble that eventually burst so catastrophically.
He then mentions mortgages of 125% on self-certification. "Looking back - this is a criticism of me and not of others - we could have been more on the ball there and sharper on that." An admission of sorts.
