Tories demand investigation into Labour donor’s appointment to Civil Service job

Ian Corfield is now reported to be working as an unpaid adviser rather than as a salaried civil servant at the Treasury.

The Conservatives have accused Labour of ‘cronyism’ over a series of appointments to the Civil Service (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Wire)

The Prime Minister’s ethics adviser has been urged to investigate the Chancellor over the appointment of a Labour donor to a Civil Service job.

Ian Corfield, who has donated £20,000 to Labour politicians over the past decade including £5,000 to Rachel Reeves last year, was made a temporary director of investment at the Treasury last month after a stint as the party’s senior business adviser.

His appointment prompted outcry from Conservatives, with shadow Treasury minister Laura Trott saying there was a “clear conflict” between Ms Reeves receiving the donation and using an exception to Civil Service recruitment rules to appoint Mr Corfield.

In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent ethics adviser, Ms Trott called for an investigation into the Chancellor for potentially breaching the Ministerial Code.

She said: “I know you are committed to upholding the very highest standards in public life and will share my belief that the growing scandal of cronyism, linked to political donations, is injurious to those standards.”

Under the current rules, Sir Laurie requires the Prime Minister’s consent to open an investigation into a minister, but Sir Keir Starmer has previously said the ethics adviser should have the power to begin investigations on their own.

Sir Laurie is understood to have not yet received Ms Trott’s letter.

Mr Corfield’s appointment is one of several to have been criticised by the Conservatives, including others that have seen people linked to the party or Labour-supporting think tanks given roles in the politically impartial Civil Service.

On Saturday, The Times newspaper reported that Mr Corfield would now be working as an unpaid adviser to the Treasury, rather than as a salaried civil servant.

According to The Times, his position will remain temporary and he will help with arranging the new Government’s first international investment summit in October.

Ms Trott said the change to Mr Corfield’s position “only seeks to underline how serious this scandal is”.

She added: “The Chancellor must urgently and publicly answer the question: did she declare that Mr Corfield was a donor to the Treasury prior to his appointment to the senior Civil Service.”

The Treasury has been approached for comment.