Newly appointed minister hits the jackpot after finding £6.35 on predecessor's canteen smartcard

A newly-appointed Treasury minister has spoken of his pleasant surprise at being left a golden inheritance by his Liberal Democrat predecessor.

Greg Hands, who was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in last week’s reshuffle, revealed that he been bequeathed £6.35 in cafeteria smartcard credit to spend as he liked.

“Good news for me as Danny Alexander left £6.35 on his Treasury canteen card,” the Conservative MP tweeted. “Before anybody criticises, remember what Liam Byrne left us…”.

The sum should be enough for Mr Hands to acquire a square meal in the Treasury’s reasonably priced cafeteria.

The new treasury chief secretary’s reference to Labour’s Liam Byrne is an allusion to a note left by Mr Byrne saying "Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam”, a reference to coming spending cuts.

The note is often misquoted as saying there was “no money left” and have become somewhat of a political football in recent years.

Private notes and other communications between ministers in outgoing and incoming governments are said to be somewhat of a tradition in Whitehall.

Mr Hands’s predecessor Mr Alexander lost his seat to the Scottish National Party at the general election as part of a major national cull of Liberal Democrat MPs by the electorate.

It is not clear whether Mr Alexander passed on the money deliberately or did not expect to be out of government after the election.