Labour has become embroiled in a cronyism row after a man who donated £20K, including £5K to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, was offered a civil service role.
Labour have been hit with a cronyism row after it emerged someone who had donated was offered job (Image: Getty )
An ex-banker who donated £20,000 to the Labour Party will now not take up a civil service job he had been awarded after a row broke out over cronyism.
Ian Corfield was made a director at His Majesty’s Treasury after the General Election in July but the appointment has faced scrutiny after it emerged he donated thousands to the Labour Party, including £5,000 to current Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The role taken up by Mr Corfield was reportedly not subject to open contest but had been initially approved by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), which is supposed to vet Whitehall appointments.
Although Mr Corfield’s original role was meant to be temporary, the Mail reported it could have commanded a wage of between £97,000 to £162,500. He will now not receive payment for his work for the Treasury.
It caps a difficult week for Chancellor Rachel Reeves who has also faced huge pressure over her decision to withdraw Winter Fuel Payments for millions of pensioners.
Conservative Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott has now written to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent advisor on minister’s interests, urging him to investigate the Chancellor.
According to The Times, Treasury permanent secretary, James Bowler, did not receive notice of donations made by Mr Corfield ahead of him taking his original role.
In a letter, Laura Trott wrote: “Under the Ministerial Code ministers must, within 14 days of appointment, ‘provide their Permanent Secretary with a full list in writing of all interests which might be thought to give rise to a conflict’. This does not seem to have happened.
“It is also necessary for them ‘scrupulously [to] avoid any danger of an actual or perceived conflict of interest between their Ministerial position and their private financial interests’.
“There is a clear conflict between receiving a donation (a private financial interest) and appointing an individual to a role (through the Chancellor’s ministerial position).”
She added: “I know you are committed to upholding the very highest standards in public life and will share my belief that the growing scandal of cronyism, linked to political donations, is injurious to those standards.”
Speaking to the BBC‘s World at One programme last week before Mr Corfield didn’t take up his civil service role, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones had said the appointment was “perfectly appropriate” and “it’s good to bring in external expertise”.
A Government spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on individual appointments and staffing.”
