AS FAR as we know, Alistair Darling has no moat, tennis court, swimming pool or duck island, has not claimed for a non-existent mortgage or avoided capital gains tax and has not asked the taxpayer to foot the bill for putting up chandeliers or planting trees in his garden.
Yet the Chancellor looks like becoming the highest profile casualty of the Westminster expenses crisis when Gordon Brown carries out a reshuffle in the next few days.
The Edinburgh South-West MP is widely expected to be moved from the Treasury –
but could still retain a place in Cabinet, possibly as Home Secretary in place of Jacqui Smith.
Mr Darling announced this week he was paying back £700 that he had claimed for service charges on the London flat where he lived before becoming Chancellor. The half-yearly bill had to be paid in advance and he was still in the flat when he reclaimed the cost in July 2007, but failed to repay an appropriate amount after moving to 11 Downing Street in September.
It is hardly the worst example of over-claimed expenses to emerge in the avalanche of revelations over the past four weeks.
And it all happened at a time when Mr Darling was faced with trying to rescue Northern Rock. "He had other things on his mind," says one insider.
Friends of Mr Darling are dismayed that his personal integrity has been called into question. One fellow MP says the service charge mix-up is "perfectly explicable", adding that there is "quite a bit of sympathy" for the Chancellor among other politicians.
Mr Darling has also been accused of "flipping" his second home four times in four years – allegedly allowing him to claim in turn for his London flat and his Edinburgh home. But he has denied he swapped addresses for personal gain and says all the moves were because of changes in his circumstances – not least his move into Number 11.
And the Chancellor has also answered accusations that he was one of several ministers who paid accountants out of public money to complete their tax returns, insisting he paid for personal tax advice himself and any fees claimed were for preparing his office accounts – an allowable expense – to ensure the correct amount of tax was paid.
There has been speculation before that the Prime Minister was planning to replace Mr Darling as Chancellor with his former economics adviser, Education Secretary Ed Balls.
The expenses row seems to have set the seal on such a move.
But Mr Darling has long been a close ally of the Prime Minister and insiders say he is likely to be offered another Cabinet post if he wants it.
Tony Blair was notorious for mishandling his reshuffles. But Mr Brown's record in dealing with such occasions has been impressive, not least in October last year when he sprung the surprise of bringing back former enemy Peter Mandelson into government.
So, in spite of the difficult circumstances and the resignations of Jacqui Smith and Hazel Blears – a classic case of jumping before being pushed – it would be a mistake to assume the reshuffle can all be predicted in advance.
Mr Darling is one of only three people – along with Gordon Brown and Jack Straw – who have been in the Cabinet ever since Labour's 1997 landslide.
In a series of jobs under Mr Blair he built a reputation as more than a safe pair of hands – in fact, someone who would calm controversy and take a department out of the headlines. Despite the latest publicity, Mr Brown could still do with Mr Darling's talents in his team.
The expenses saga has uncovered some genuine scandals and turned the spotlight on some rather murky corners at Westminster.
But while public outrage at the behaviour of some of the country's senior politicians is more than justified, there is a danger now of lines becoming blurred between genuine mistakes, attempts to milk the system and what looks like downright fraud.
And those pointing the finger at the government are not immune from criticism.
Tory leader David Cameron claimed taxpayers' cash for removing wisteria from a chimney and faced questions this week over why he paid off a loan on his London home shortly after taking out a £350,000 taxpayer-funded mortgage on his constituency house.
And First Minister Alex Salmond is under pressure to explain why he claimed hundreds of pounds in Westminster allowances for food during a summer recess.
As one Labour politician put it, "it seems if you peer hard enough you can find a mote in anyone's eye".
