Criticism of the government’s handling of senior civil service appointments has intensified after it emerged that a former staffer at a Labour-affiliated think tank has been appointed to the Cabinet Office’s ethics group.
Jess Sargeant, who previously worked at Labour Together, has taken up a role in the department’s Propriety and Constitution Group.
Sargeant has spent the last year as director of constitutional change at the think tank, which is closely linked to the Labour Party and backed Keir Starmer in the general election. It is understood that she was hired through the "exception" process, meaning her job was not advertised externally.
The appointment comes amid growing scrutiny of civil service appointments after two Labour donors were handed senior jobs. Critics took aim at Sargeant's appointment to a role in the PCG, which has overseen investigations into allegations of ministerial bad behavious and giving advice on conflicts of influence, saying it could undermine the unit's impartiality.
However, a “senior government source” said Sargeant, who will become a deputy director in the civil service, will work exclusively on constitutional issues, providing policy expertise, and will not be involved in proprietary casework, inquiries or investigations, according to The Times.
Before working for Labour Together, Sergeant was an associate director at the politically impartial Institute for Government, where she worked on constitutional reform.
In that role, she wrote for CSW on the implications of the Withdrawal Agreement Act – despite opposition from the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament – on the relationships between the Westminster government and those of the devolved nations.
It previously emerged that former credit card company chief executive Ian Corfield had been appointed as director of investment at the Treasury using the same exception process. Corfield has donated £20,000 to the party over the past decade, including £5,000 to Reeves last year.
It was later reported that former consultant Emily Middleton had been made a director general in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, having been seconded to the Labour Party while it was in opposition.
Former Conservative special adviser Henry Newman said Sargeant’s appointment “fundamentally undermines the civil service’s political impartiality”.
“There is no way that a future Conservative government could have confidence in the appointment of a Labour staffer as a constitutional guardian in the Cabinet Office,” said Newman, who writes TheWhitehallProject blog.
Jill Rutter, senior research fellow at think tank UK in a Changing Europe and senior fellow at the IfG, said Labour was making a "presentational mess" of the way it was bringing expert outsiders into government.
"They (as their [Conservative] predecessors) need to be less squeamish about admitting they are appointing a few more advisers," she said on X.
She said the party "should have made absolutely clear" the Sargeant would not be working on individual cases in the propriety team. "But will government be better, and the civil service helped by having Jess there? Also yes," she added.
Shadow paymaster general John Glen, who has called on the Civil Service Commission to investigate the appointments, said there was “overwhelming evidence” that the Labour government was harming the integrity of Whitehall.
“Everyone expects a new government to appoint political special advisers but parachuting in so many Labour staffers as civil servants without open and fair competition is not only an abuse of taxpayers’ money but also puts at risk the fundamental and enduring impartiality of our civil service,” the former Cabinet Office minister said.
“This goes to the heart of Whitehall – from Sue Gray, right across to the division in charge of propriety and ethics,” he added.
Much of the criticism in recent days has been directed at Gray, Starmer's chief of staff, who previously worked in the propriety and ethics group.
In response, yesterday, veteran Whitehall watcher and former New Statesman political editor Steve Richards suggested the criticisms were rooted in misogyny and said Starmer should sack anyone briefing against Gray.
"What is familiar is the poisonous briefings against a powerful woman and the relationship she has with the prime minister compared to other courtiers who seek that influence and power too," Richards said.
He also suggested claims that Gray wields too much power are "all nonsense, adding: "If she has power, it's derived from Keir Starmer. Tony Blair decided how much power Alastair Campbell could have, and so it is all nonsensical."
The Cabinet Office said it does not comment on individual civil servants.