Labour just can’t get enough of their previous political staff handed supposedly neutral civil service jobs. In what is now becoming a major scandal, ministers are failing to justify the provision of mass-Labour donor Waheed Alli with a Downing Street pass and Labour aides are entering the civil service in droves. It’s not just Sue Gray bringing on her loyalists…

Wes Streeting’s political press officer Joe Davies, employed by the Labour Party in the four months to election, was handed a civil service media relations role this month. DHSC deploys the usual line when asked about this parachute job by Guido: “The department does not comment on individual personnel matters. Any appointments are made in line with the civil service rules on recruitment.” The department has not denied that the job was given without interview. Normally ministers’ civil service press teams are composed of impartial civil servants…

If the job wasn’t advertised externally, what exception was used? Who signed off on the exception? Did Streeting make a declaration of interest? 

Starmer’s line when asked at his ‘State of the Nation’ speech was that “most of these allegations are coming from the very people who dragged the country down in the first place.” Which is complete nonsense as it’s the press, not Tories, digging out these appointments…

Guido is told that, while donor Ian Corfield’s crony civil service appointment won’t be going ahead, Jess Sargeant’s position in the Propriety and Constitution Group hasn’t changed. There’s no stopping this train…

Labour Party Chairman Ellie Reeves was questioned by Kay Burley on Waheed Alli’s Downing Street pass. Reeves’ scattered defence lines contradicted themselves:

• He only had a pass for a few weeks.
• He’s a well-respected peer.
• He wasn’t involved in policy decisions.
• It’s “not unusual for a political figure to have a pass.“ It is if they’re a donor without a job…
• He worked on the election campaign.
• “I can’t comment on individuals.“
• There are no rules preventing donors “having a role.” What role did he have?

Reeves refused to say who authorised the pass. Meanwhile Shadow DSIT Secretary Andrew Griffith is calling for an investigation by Laurie Magnus, No 10’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, into the cronyism scandal. Maybe the Propriety Group’s Jess Sargeant should look into it?

Multiple revelations of Labour hiring so-called “impartial” civil servants whose links with Labour are more than a little eyebrow-raising have surfaced this week. After Guido revealed two more sycophants parachuted into Civil Service roles, a faint memory came to mind of Labour’s never-ending campaign against cronyism from opposition, accompanied by exalted pledges to govern in full transparency. Safe to say they’ve ditched that policy now too…

Well that didn’t last long… pic.twitter.com/9odbcH4e4p

— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) August 21, 2024

It’s no wonder that the Cabinet Office was as keen as possible to avoid confirming Jess Sargeant’s appointment to Guido. Labour is scrambling to spin the appointment of a party-aligned staffer to a senior position in the Propriety and Constitution Unit as fine.

When Sue Gray led the same unit she used it to become “one of the most powerful civil servants in the UK” overseeing the probe into and removal of Cabinet Office Minister Damian Green. Guido hears Sargeant “just turned up one morning” around two weeks ago having been given the job without external advertisement. One Cabinet Office source tells Guido she is not even on the internal department database – a hurried insertion into the role from the very top. Hardly suggests the government has an established system of “firewalls” and protections in place to limit Sargeant’s access…

Labour last night hastily cobbled together a line claiming that Sargeant will be “confined to constitutional matters” using “firewalls” to ensure she is “not involved in any propriety casework, inquiries or investigations.” As Deputy Director in the small Propriety and Constitution Unit, Sargeant will work in an office with some of the broadest access in the Civil Service:

• Giving official advice on royal and parliamentary procedure issues. Including advising on House of Lords reform…
• Overseeing Honours Secretariat.
• Overseeing Privy Council Office.
• Advising on public appointments.
• Managing the government’s relationship with all ‘independent offices’. Like the Civil Service Commission…
• Advising on “policies and codes governing ministers and special advisers.“
• Co-ordinating government’s response to “instances of senior civil servants holding remunerated positions or other interests outside government which might conflict with their obligations under the code.“
• Questioning ministers on conflicts of interest in their departments.
• Providing support to the Cabinet Secretary on the “operation of government.“

Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds had staff secondments worth £35,522 from Sargeant’s Labour Together campaign in the last year – effectively laundering money from Lord Sainsbury who gave £300,000 to the campaign. Sainsbury also funds the Institute for (Big) Government where Sargeant worked before Labour Together. Arguably her new boss was beholden financially to the Labour Party donor who financed her last two jobs. You might perceive this financial link as a manifest conflict of interest… 

Guido’s attention has been directed by Civil Service experts to paragraph 7.1 of the Ministerial Code which makes it clear that “Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.” When will the investigation into itself by the Propriety and Constitution unit begin?

UPDATE:  Cabinet Office source says Jessica Sargeant will not be “Deputy Director of the Propriety and Constitution Unit”. Job title now unclear.

The row is raging on over Labour’s latest cronyistic appointment of Labour Together Starmtrooper Jess Sargeant to a senior Civil Service role. As revealed by Guido yesterday…

Sue Gray, meanwhile, has been busy over on Downing Street employing her aides as civil servants too. They can’t help themselves…

Gray’s Diary Secretary has been parachuted straight into a plum Civil Service position as her executive assistant, instead of being appointed more appropriately as a SpAd. Mitchell Burns-Jackson held a House of Commons pass from Keir Starmer’s office and was administrative officer for LOTO prior to working for Sue in opposition. Does the Labour Party realise that they can’t replace the entire Civil Service with party hacks?

The appointment is explained away as being according to the rules as it “was made on a fixed-term basis.” Cronies gonna crony…

UPDATE: Lee Anderson MP, Reform UK’s Chief Whip blasted Starmer on the cronyistic appointments:

“Despite having the largest majority in living memory it would appear that Sir Keir Starmer wants to totally stitch up the way he runs our country. Putting his mates into high ranking civil service jobs will ensure there is no push back on Labour’s plans to totally ruin our country. We’ve already seen them reject the idea of having Reform MPs on Select Committees and now we see another assault on our democracy”.

Yet another politicised civil service appointment appears to be on the cards for the government. Labour Together campaigner Jess Sargeant is rumoured to have been appointed to a top civil service role. Labour is already under serious fire for hiring its own donors and ex-Labour Together staff to top civil service positions in blatant cronyism…

Sargeant, a former constitutional wonk at the Institute for Big Government-turned-Starmerite activist, joined Labour Together to direct its constitutional work programme in December last year and began working closely with shadow ministers. Now she is said to be starting work as the Deputy Director of the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Constitution Group. Sue Gray’s old team, and the one – Guido kids you not – responsible for “ensuring the highest standards of propriety and ethics across all government departments”…

The group supports departments to uphold standards and, surprise surprise – manages Whitehall’s relations with the Civil Service Commission, which manages, among other things, the impartiality of civil service jobs. Is Labour looking to install a Starmer loyalist at the heart of the civil service machine?

Guido approached the Cabinet Office, who said “We’ll come back to you“. Eight hours later the standard Labour Party line when asked about its cronyistic appointments was issued: “We do not comment on individuals.” Jess’ soon-to-be senior Darren Tierney declined to deny the appointment when asked, directing Guido with a sigh instead to the press office…

A Deputy Director with such a broad scope will have access to reams of sensitive information and will get live updates on ethical breaches throughout government. Sargeant has deleted her LinkedIn profile and taken her Twitter private – a typical sign of an impending slide into government. Has the Civil Service Commission been made aware of Sargeant’s recent Labour Party activism as a Starmtrooper member of the Labour Together cadre?

UPDATE: Hire confirmed. POLITICO is “assured Sargeant was hired to advise on constitutional issues, which is her area of expertise, and not ethics” while a “senior Labour source” says “the idea she is a Starmerite warrior is nonsense.” Uh-huh…