A Labour donor at the centre of a row over civil service appointments has resigned from his Treasury role and will become an unpaid adviser instead.
Ian Corfield, a former credit card company boss who had donated money to chancellor Rachel Reeves, was appointed as director of investment at the Treasury earlier this month.
The role quickly became the subject of controversy when it was reported, as he was hired without the usual open recruitment process.
Following the backlash, Corfield has opted not to take up the civil service job and instead will act as an adviser by ministerial appointment, The Times reported this weekend.
The key difference in the role – which was always intended to be a fixed-term post – is that Corfield will be unpaid.
His post was likened by insiders to that of Dame Kate Bingham, who led the vaccines task force at the height of the Covid pandemic under the previous Conservative administration.
The job is also no longer subject to approval by the Civil Service Commission.
The CSC said earlier this month that it had green-lit Corfield’s appointment, "recognising the need for the civil service to quickly bring in relevant skills for a fixed term" and adding that "all appointments by exception are reminded of their responsibilities under the civil service code to act with impartiality, objectivity, integrity and honesty”.
However, it later emerged that the CSC had not been told Corfield had donated £20,000 to Reeves over the last decade, including £5,000 last year when she was shadow chancellor.
In a blog post, CSC interim chief executive Kate Owen said decisions to approve an appointment by exception involve consideration of a departmental business case explaining why the role cannot be done by existing staff or filled through open competition
She added: "The department – as the employer – is responsible for carrying out background checks on individuals who may be appointed by exception. The department is also responsible for addressing any potential propriety matters."
John Glen, shadow paymaster general, said: “I welcome this decision but think it would be wise for the government to clarify how many former Labour staffers and party donors have been appointed without fair and open competition.”
Other appointments that have attracted criticism include former Labour Together staffers Emily Middleton and Jess Sargeant, who were appointed to roles in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Cabinet Office's ethics and constitution group respectively.