Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that his former spin doctor, Matthew Doyle, was considered for a senior ambassador position despite lacking relevant experience. The prime minister faced questions during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday after a former Foreign Office official revealed that Number 10 had pushed for Doyle's appointment while instructing him to hide the request from then-foreign secretary David Lammy.
Sacked Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins told MPs on Tuesday that the approach made him “quite uncomfortable” and that he was under strict instruction not to discuss it with Lammy. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper expressed “extreme concern” and said Doyle would not have been an “appropriate” choice. Doyle was later elevated to the House of Lords but was stripped of the Labour whip over links to a convicted paedophile.
Opposition leaders condemned the alleged lobbying as cronyism. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Starmer of running an “old boys’ club,” while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for a cabinet secretary inquiry to ensure such lobbying never happens again. Starmer insisted that “nothing came of” the discussions and that Robbins’s testimony “puts to bed all the allegations” of dishonesty over the separate Peter Mandelson appointment scandal.
The controversy adds to pressure on Starmer, who has faced questions over the vetting process for Lord Mandelson as US ambassador. Robbins testified that he was only told Mandelson’s case was “borderline” and that there was an “atmosphere of pressure” from Number 10 to expedite the appointment. Starmer refused to say whether he had apologised to Lammy and insisted he would not resign.
