DANIEL Grian Alexander does not make a habit of crying.
But after a momentous year, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is man enough to admit, given the amount of metaphorical blood and literal sweat and toil he put into the referendum campaign, it was only natural there were some tears - of joy - when the result finally came through on that dreich Friday morning in Edinburgh. After three years of, at times, bitter campaigning, the Union had been saved.
"I did cry. It was such a hugely emotional moment when we won," declares the 42-year-old Highland MP.
The campaign, he explains, was "a powerful experience; something that changed my life and the lives of thousands of Scots".
So that is perhaps why he appears exasperated, angry even, at the attitude of some Scots, including Alex Salmond, the former First Minister, who believe the result on September 18 was "not so much a No as a not yet".
"It is absolutely appalling," he insists. "When you've been through that process, you've got to accept the result. You have to say we are not the 45 or the 55, we are the 100 per cent Scots."
He suggests the New Year is an opportunity for the Nay-sayers to face reality and move on.
"Auld Lang Syne, Hogmanay...2015 is a time for Scotland to pull together and if the Nationalists keep arguing to break up the United Kingdom in that period, then they will pay a price for it."
For nearly five years now, the Highlander, aptly perhaps the son of a firefighter, has, in his eyes, been putting out fires to save the economy and then seeking to improve it.
He regards the Coalition as a "partnership of equals" despite the fact the Tories won 306 seats and the Lib Dems 57 in 2010.
The former Cairngorms National Park press chief was the shortest-lived Scottish Secretary; he was just two weeks in post before the David Laws expenses scandal catapulted him into the Treasury, where Mr Alexander has been ever since, rubbing shoulders with the Conservative Chancellor George Osborne.
"We get on pretty well," he insists. Drinking partners? "No, not really. I wouldn't say that."
The Edinburgh-born Oxford graduate's rising star has been helped by the fact that he is a close ally of his party leader Nick Clegg, having been, before the 2010 election, his Chief of Staff.
And it is with the Deputy Prime Minister that Mr Alexander runs the Coalition through the so-called Quad alongside David Cameron and the Chancellor.
The Coalition has only survived because it has held together at the very top. "Correct," he declares. "It functions because the Quad is a place, where we try to resolve our arguments privately; crucially, very often with nobody else in the room."
Yet, having said that, the Lib Dem mantra is that their purpose in the life within the Coalition has been to tame and to temper the Tory tiger and its inclination towards excess.
"It's been difficult, of course, because we and the Tories have different views on things. We've had them on a short leash."
This suggests the Lib Dems have been the masters and the Conservatives the mastered. "Well," laughs Mr Alexander, "when you listen to Tory MPs speak, that's how they feel."
With suggestions the Conservatives want to cut, cut and keep cutting even when the books are balanced, the Liberal Democrat frontbencher is clear his party's civilising role is not over just yet.
"You are starting to see now as the Tories start to set out their agenda for the future just how unpleasant some of the things they would do if they were left to their own devices," declares the Inverness MP.
While there have been difficult moments - the PM's EU veto and the AV referendum - for the Scot, his proudest achievement has been "turning round" the economy.
"Frankly, that is something that wouldn't be happening without me, it wouldn't be happening without the Liberal Democrats, it wouldn't be happening without the way in which we have shaped the economic strategy of this government with the Conservatives."
As the next General Election looms, Mr Alexander admits it will be the hardest campaign the Liberal Democrats have ever fought; because they are a party of government.
But the Chief Secretary appears sanguine, insisting his party is the "authentic voice" of having a stronger Scottish Parliament within a stronger UK and is dismissive of the emboldened SNP, particularly its ex-leader, and his attempt to win a Lib Dem seat in his home territory of Gordon.
"Christine Jardine has the beating of Alex Salmond, absolutely," he declares, adding: "I don't think any constituency in the country wants to be taken for granted by an ageing rock star on his farewell tour."
As for the festive season, the father-of-two will be hill-walking in beautiful, snowclad Aviemore with his wife and two young daughters.
"I'm looking forward to putting my feet up; it's been a long year," he adds. The next, of course, could be longer still.
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