Treasury did not tell watchdog of top official's donations to Labour politicians

A Labour donor was approved for a senior Treasury role without the civil service watchdog being informed of his donation history, it has emerged.

- Eleni Courea

Ian Corfield has donated more than £20,000 to Labour politicians in the past 10 years, including £5,000 to the then shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, last summer, according to Electoral Commission data.

Corfield was appointed a director in the Treasury in July, a senior role that would ordinarily be reserved for career civil servants.

Before that he worked as a fulltime senior business adviser to the Labour party for seven months, according to his LinkedIn profile, and previously held senior roles at financial services firms.

Politico, which first revealed his appointment, reported that the Civil Service Commission was not informed of his donation history before giving its approval.

The watchdog approved the appointment, which it said was for a fixed term, after the Treasury made a case for it. The government must meet strict rules when appointing senior civil servants, including holding an open and fair recruitment process.