A LABOUR donor handed a top civil service job has quit the role amid allegations of cronyism.
Former banker Ian Corfield was appointed to a director role in the Treasury after gifting £18,000 to Labour politicians and working for the party in the run-up to the General Election.
His position would have commanded a salary of at least £95,000 a year.
But The Sunday Times has reported he will now take on an unpaid role as a Treasury adviser after accusations of cronyism – which saw the Tories accuse Labour of “hypocrisy off the scale” when it was revealed he had donated £5000 to Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
His appointment bypassed the usual civil service hiring rules, which can be waived in special circumstances for temporary appointments.
But the Civil Service Commission was reportedly not informed about his past financial contributions to Labour.
Corfield’s new role means he will no longer have the power to make managerial or financial decisions.
The Sunday Times reported that he will continue to work on organising the Government’s first international investment summit in London in October.
This will see the Chancellor attempt to drum up billions from foreign states and corporations and she has previously spoke of her ambition to use private capital to plug a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances.
Labour have been hit with another cronyism row over the weekend after it emerged that a civil servant who began her career with Reeves at the Bank of England has been handed a significant promotion in the Treasury.
Louise Tinsley, who previously worked for Reeves before joining the civil service, has been given a powerful new role in the Treasury as director of special advisers and chancellor engagement, according to The Sunday Times.
The Treasury refused to tell the paper whether the post, which is a newly-created role, was advertised externally or internally before Tinsley was appointed.
Meanwhile, top Labour minister Pat McFadden (above) has said a major party donor may have a Downing Street pass.
Lord Waheed Alli, who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the party, was reported by The Sunday Times to have been given a pass granting him access to Number 10 despite having no official role in Government.
But speaking to Sky News on Sunday, McFadden said that Alli may have had a pass “for a short time” immediately after the election and could still have access to No 10.
He said: “I don’t think it’s unusual for people to have passes to attend political meetings if they need to do so.
“I don’t think he’s got the pass now but he may have had one in the past.”
Lord Alli, a television executive who was ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998, has donated more than £500,000 to the Labour Party and senior Labour figures over the past 20 years, including to Keir Starmer, along with providing clothes and accommodation for the Prime Minister.
He also worked as the party’s chief fundraiser for the general election, having been hired by Starmer in 2022.
It is rare for donors to receive a pass for Number 10, with access usually being restricted to civil servants, advisers and close family members of the Prime Minister.
