A banker who donated more than £20,000 to the Labour Party and worked for the party in the run-up to the general election has landed a dream job in Rachel Reeves’ Treasury.
Ian Corfield, who previously held senior positions in financial services firms, was appointed director to report to the Labour finance minister after gifting her several thousand pounds last year.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he took up a position as senior economic adviser to the Labour Party in January this year, but retained his position as chief commercial officer at credit card company NewDay until April this year.
According to the news portal Politico, he works as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance. Civil servants are bound by the rules of neutrality in their office, but there are no regulations that prevent donors or people close to political parties from entering the civil service.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her office at 11 Downing Street (Image: Jordan Pettitt)
While there is no evidence that Corfield or the British government broke any rules in appointing him, the revelation sheds new light on the links between the government, wealthy donors and the private sector.
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Concerns were raised that Labour would “perpetuate the same old, broken system that allows wealthy individuals who donate large sums of money to political parties to gain influence and power”.
Corfield donated £5,000 to Reeves last year and had previously donated twice to former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson – with gifts totalling £13,000 – and once to former leadership contender Rebecca Long-Bailey.
In his new position at the Treasury, he will earn between £97,000 and £162,500 and will report only to the Permanent Secretary and the Department’s Directors-General.
Politico reported that the hiring was approved under an exception to appointment rules that require a transparent and fair hiring process and approval by the Civil Service Commission.
The exception provides that highly qualified and experienced employees can be hired on a temporary basis.
A spokesperson for the Civil Service Commission told the website: “This temporary appointment has been approved by the Commission as it recognises the need for the Civil Service to bring in relevant skills quickly and for a limited period of time.”
Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government, said: “The proximity in time between joining the Labour Party and the donations being made makes it all the more important that a merit-based recruitment process is in place. The Civil Service Commission agreed to this to avoid any impression that donations were being exchanged for jobs.”
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Green Party MP Maggie Chapman said: “We may have seen a change of government in Westminster, but we still have the same old broken system that allows wealthy individuals who donate huge sums of money to political parties to gain influence and power.”
“This is not how a democratic state should function. We should not have governments that are funded by those who fund them.”
“In the 13 years since the Committee on Standards and Public Life recommended a £10,000-a-year cap on individual donations, we have seen a flood of donors being awarded public contracts, senior government jobs or seats in the House of Lords. Meanwhile, the committee’s report has been completely ignored by both Labour and the Tories.”
She said that to “end the influence of the super-rich on our politics” there must be caps on individual donations, rules barring donors from appointment to senior positions and the abolition of the House of Lords.
Chris McEleny, general secretary of the Alba Party, said: “Labour has promised change but this looks more like a continuation of the Tory style of rewarding party donors with political patronage.”
