BORIS Johnson’s former chief of staff is facing an attempt to block his peerage following claims that he bullied junior members of the team in Downing Street.
Dan Rosenfield was nominated by Johnson in his resignation honours list, along with Alister Jack and Nadine Dorries.
However, The Times reports that a group of staff who worked with him have said it would be “entirely inappropriate” for Rosenfield to receive a peerage because of his conduct.
They have contacted the propriety and ethics team in the Cabinet Office, which bets candidates for the independent Lords Appointments Commission, to formally register concerns.
The claims have been denied by those close to Rosenfield.
Complaints accused him of presiding over an “overbearing” culture that allegedly contributed to the departure of a number of young female staff late last year.
The newspaper also reports that two sources said a “series” of junior staff had to be found other jobs because they found Rosenfield so difficult to work for.
One said he has displayed a “dismissive” attitude towards some female staff that they believed “crossed the line” into bullying.
“He had David Brent-style humour and made odd, sexist comments”, one said.
A woman who felt mistreated told the newspaper: “There was a lot of screaming, particularly at women officials.
“A number of times colleagues would say to me, ‘are you ok?’ after he had left the room.
“The problem is, the worst-treated are those who are more reluctant to make the complaint, because they don’t want to damage their careers.”
Another person claimed: “There was a well-known incident where a young woman didn’t get his sandwich exactly when he wanted it.
“He summoned her into the office and yelled at her, ‘when I want my sandwich, I want my f****ng sandwich’.
“For the junior civil servants who were very badly treated, there was no option other than to put up with it.”
However, the newspaper also reports that other staff who worked with Rosenfield in Downing Street described the allegations as “laughable”.
One said: “Dan was an exemplary chief of staff who brought order to No 10 with professionalism and respect.
“This is the latest weak attempt from a group of disgruntled former political aides to manufacture controversy over Boris Johnson’s honours list.
“It is so obviously political as to be laughable.”
Another added: “Dan was at all times highly professional and his leadership restored professionalism to the Downing Street team.
“That none of this was raised during his time as chief of staff shows this is just a malicious briefing exercise aimed at targeting allies of Boris Johnson. These allegations are totally spurious.”
It is understood the ethics team have had a number of complaints about Rosenfield. One source said they had been told that the team would make the appointments commission aware of them as part of the vetting process.
A Cabinet Office spokesman did not deny that representations had been received but added that no complaints had been made while Rosenfield was working for the prime minister.
A Government spokesperson said: "We are not aware of any complaints being submitted during Dan Rosenfield's time as chief of staff at No10."
It will ultimately be down to Rishi Sunak to either block or allow nominations on the honours list.
