Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that he considered appointing Lord Matthew Doyle for an ambassadorial role without the foreign secretary knowing, amid growing questions over the Prime Minister’s judgment in key decisions. The Prime Minister appeared to accept that Doyle, who recently had the Labour whip removed following revelations about his relationship with a sex offender, was in contention to take a key diplomatic role last year after he stopped working as Number 10’s communications chief. Starmer was asked by Tory MP whether Doyle was considered for a plum job after leaving Number 10.
The PM replied: “Matthew Doyle worked for many years in public service, for me as prime minister and other ministers. “When people leave roles in any organisation there are often conversations about other roles they want to apply for, but nothing came of this.” Starmer row with Robbins intensifies Sir Olly Robbins, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office who was sacked by the Prime Minister last week, made a bombshell revelation that he felt “uncomfortable” about a request from Number 10 to find a job for Doyle without telling then foreign secretary David Lammy. Robbins said that Downing Street officials were looking for a ‘head of mission’ role for Starmer’s former director of communications in March last year but that he was under “strict instructions” not to discuss the matter with Lammy.
“I found it very hard to think how I would explain to the office what the credentials of Matthew were to be in an important head of mission role when I was in danger of making very senior, very experienced diplomats leave the office,” Robbins said, referring to job cuts in his department at the time. “It was to be honest hard to find something that I thought might be suitable but I also felt quite uncomfortable about it.” Doyle was awarded a peerage by Starmer last year, after the ambassadorial role was considered, but the whip was suspended from him after it emerged he had campaigned for a convicted sex offender.
Doyle has said Sean Morton, the convicted former Labour councillor, maintained his innocence at the time of electoral campaigns in Moray. Current foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said she was “extremely concerned” about her predecessor not being informed about a possible appointment. A spokesman for Kemi Badenoch said she was “disgusted” at suggestions that Starmer had attempted to override appointment processes on more than one occasion.