Banker who donated £20,000 to senior Labour politicians lands top civil service job in the Treasury

A banker who donated more than £20,000 to senior Labour politicians has landed a top civil service job in the Treasury, it emerged yesterday.

Ian Corfield, who donated thousands of pounds to now Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has been made a director in her department.

The disclosure, first reported by Politico, risks sparking a ‘cash for jobs’ row although there is no suggestion any rules have been broken.

Henry Newman, a former adviser to Michael Gove, said: ‘If Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak had made this sort of appointment, I can imagine the howls of outrage that would have followed.’ 

Mr Corfield joined the Treasury after working as a senior business adviser to Labour between January and July.

Ian Corfield donated thousands of pounds to current Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and has now landed a top job in the civil service

Mr Colfield has donated over £20,000 to Labour politicians over the last nine years

He has donated more than £20,000 to Labour politicians over the last nine years, according to Electoral Commission records. 

Most recently, he donated £5,000 to Ms Reeves in 2023.

The director role is a senior civil service position and has a pay range of £97,000 to £162,500. Usually such roles are given to career civil servants rather than external candidates. 

Previously, Mr Corfield has held senior roles in the private sector, including at Australian banks Aussie and Bankwest.

Alex Thomas, of the Institute for Government, told The Times: ‘The proximity in terms of timing of the Labour affiliation and the giving of donations makes it even more important that a merit-based recruitment process is followed.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘Any appointments are made in line with the civil service rules on recruitment.’ 

The Electoral Commission said: ‘There isn’t anything in the political finance laws we enforce that prohibits a civil servant from donating to a political party.’