Downing Street pushed the Foreign Office to find a diplomatic role for Keir Starmer’s communications chief without informing the then foreign secretary, David Lammy, the former head of the department has revealed. Olly Robbins, who was sacked as permanent under-secretary, told MPs he had several conversations with No 10 about finding a post for Matthew Doyle, later suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he campaigned for a friend convicted of possessing indecent images of children.
Testifying to the foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, Robbins said he was under strict instruction not to mention the idea to Lammy. He described the conversations as part of broader pressure to place senior political figures in top diplomatic roles, made while discussing the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador. “There were several discussions initiated by No 10 with me about potentially finding a head of mission opportunity for Matthew Doyle,” Robbins said. “I was under strict instruction not to discuss that with the then foreign secretary.”
Robbins added that he found it hard to identify a suitable role and felt uncomfortable about the request. “It was, to be honest, hard to find something that I thought might be suitable. But I also felt quite uncomfortable about it and I kept giving advice that I thought this would be very hard for the Foreign Office, and hard for me personally, to defend.” He said No 10 later asked Mandelson to find Doyle a role in the US network instead.
Doyle denied seeking a diplomatic post, saying in a statement: “I have never sought any head of mission, ambassador or any equivalent leadership-type posting. I was never aware of anyone speaking to the FCDO about such a role for me. My desire after leaving No 10 was to stay in UK politics.” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs she was “extremely concerned” at the suggestion that Robbins was told not to inform Lammy, and confirmed that appointing Doyle would not have been appropriate.
Robbins said the attempt was part of “a creep of senior diplomatic roles going to non-career diplomats”, making it hard to explain why talented career diplomats were leaving while less qualified people were appointed. The conversations occurred in March 2025, shortly before Doyle left Downing Street. He was later given a seat in the House of Lords but suspended from the Labour whip in February after it emerged he campaigned in 2016 for Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor later convicted of possessing indecent images. Downing Street declined to comment, saying: “We wouldn’t get into personnel issues.”
