Lego Danny Alexander could help the real thing

These days, the sign that you’ve arrived in politics is when you earn a parody account on Twitter.

These are in the name of the likes of David Ca-moron or NotBorisJohnson and lampoon their subject by tweeting messages that it’s sometimes difficult to discern from the real thing.

For example, NotBorisJohnson uses words such as “Zounds!” and “Lorks!” as liberally as the Mayor of London does and frequently makes more sense.

The arrival of Lego Danny Alexander on Twitter is a sure sign of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s rising profile.

Unlike some parody accounts that are vicious in their disrespect for their target, this one dubs the Inverness member “Chief Secretary of Our Hearts and Minds” and features a daily photo of a little ginger Lego figure, invariably drinking milk.

Last week the increasingly powerful Alexander was laying down the law on the Lib Dems’ future plans and even taking it upon himself to grant nation status to the Cornish.

It was Danny’s decision to give Cornwall the same protections as the Welsh and Scots by designating them a national minority under EU rules, recognising their “proud history, unique culture, and distinctive language”.

What it has to do with him as a Treasury Minister is unclear. But there are a lot of Lib Dem MPs in Cornwall nervous about the money the Conservatives are pouring into target seats there.

The accusation that follows Danny Alexander around is that he peddles pork barrel politics using his spending powers at the Exchequer to benefit Lib Dem seats.

In the autumn he’ll announce more of the A1 is to be dual carriageway. It runs through the marginal Lib Dem seats of Michael Moore and Alan Beith.

He’s been at the forefront of efforts to cut fuel duty in rural areas like those represented by his colleagues Charles Kennedy in the Highlands and Alan Reid in Argyll.

He had a hand in tax breaks for ski lifts, his Inverness constituency being home to a number of ski resorts.

To his credit Danny cheerfully points out he’s proud constituents in Lib Dem seats benefit from having the party in Government.

Taking criticism on the chin is one of the Chief Secretary’s more endearing characteristics.

After Harriet Harman called him “a ginger rodent” he wasn’t so churlish as to turn down her offer to share a pint of the beer of the same name when it went on sale in the Parliamentary bar.

And when, weirdly, Kermit the Frog entered the Scottish independence debate, Alexander was happy to play up his resemblance to Beaker, the lab assistant in The Muppets.

However, come the next election, will Alexander, like the Muppets in their current cinema outing, be “Most Wanted” by Lib Dems?

There’s no doubt Nick Clegg will be rejected by the electorate and then his party in short order next May.

Clegg endured another miserable time last week when he was late for his own Euro election launch and upstaged by his wife who seized the microphone at an event to berate men who don’t do their fair share of childcare. After May, Clegg will have plenty of time to do the school run.

The field of runners to replace him is thin, but Alexander is emerging.

With his liberal distribution of electoral favours he’s not just helping Lib Dem MPs get back into Parliament, he’s given them a reason to back him in any leadership contest.

And last week Alexander said his party wanted a Coalition in the event of a hung parliament next year, they won’t support a minority administration strong statements that made him sound like a leader.

Lego Danny Alexander with his little cup of milk may be surreal, but he’s a sign that the real thing’s gotta lotta chance of leading the Lib Dems soon.