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…

In the Corbyn years, the Labour Together caucus of centrist MPs tried to make the case for making the party electable again. In 2020, with Morgan McSweeney as director, MPs in the group including Steve Reed, Shabana Mahmood, Lucy Powell, Wes Streeting, Bridget Philipson, Jim McMahon, Jon Cruddas, Lisa Nandy and Rachel Reeves got behind Starmer. McSweeney became Starmer’s chief-of-staff and is now the Labour Party’s campaign director.

It is a sign of the times that the faction is now confidently charting a path into Downing Street. A new pamphlet from the group “Red Shift“, based on YouGov polling, claims that there are “six distinct voter groups in England & Wales. To win the next election, a party must win four of them. In 2019, the Conservatives won five. Now, they are only winning in two.”

‘Stevenage Woman‘ and ‘Workington Man‘ are the key swing demographic groups apparently. In 2019, the Conservatives won both groups comfortably. Now Labour holds leads of 28 points and 41 points amongst each respectively. The authors warn that the electorate is volatile, Labour Together argues that two things will guarantee Labour’s victory: