Sir Keir Starmer nominated a former aide for a peerage despite being told he had “been supportive” of a councillor who had been accused of child sex offences, his ex-communications chief has claimed.
The prime minister is facing continued questions over his judgment in appointing his former spin doctor, Matthew Doyle, to the House of Lords after he campaigned for a councillor who had been charged with having indecent images of children.
The prime minister said on Wednesday that Lord Doyle, who has now apologised and had the Labour whip removed, had failed to give a “full account of his actions” when he was granted a peerage and had not disclosed he had campaigned for Sean Morton in 2017.
However, Tim Allan, who quit as the communications chief in No 10 this week, said that Lord Doyle had confirmed he believed Morton before his conviction and had been “supportive” during that time.
Mr Allan said he had been asked to speak with the peer while in Downing Street by Sir Keir’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, about Lord Doyle’s relationship with Morton.
“I accurately relayed what Doyle had told me to the PM,” Mr Allan said in a statement issued to the Press Association.
“The PM is right to state that Doyle did not tell me about his campaigning in a council election for Morton.
“Doyle did, however, tell me that he had believed Morton’s protestations of innocence prior to his conviction and had been supportive of him during that time.”
Sir Keir has been facing calls to quit amid the fallout from the Peter Mandelson and Lord Doyle scandal, having been accused of a “catastrophic lack of judgement” over both appointments.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of knowing about his former spin doctor’s association with Moray councillor Morton when Lord Doyle took his seat in the upper chamber.
The Labour leader replied: “Matthew Doyle did not give a full account of his actions. On Monday I promised my party and my country there will be change.
“And yesterday I removed the whip from Matthew Doyle.”
Lord Doyle’s continued relationship with Morton after he was charged was first reported byThe Sunday Times last December, after his peerage was announced, but before he took his seat in the upper chamber in January.
No 10 insisted there was no precedent for halting a peerage after it has been announced, but a House of Lords spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on specific confidential advice given by Parliamentary Officials. However, our understanding is that under the Life Peerages Act 1958 a peerage is created when the letters patent are sealed.”
Downing Street has declined to commit to stripping the former aide of the honour, arguing this could prejudice a Labour investigation into the appointment.
As he attempts to move on from speculation about his future in Downing Street, the prime minister is expected to continue efforts to shake up his No 10 operation, with the country’s top civil servant, Sir Chris Wormald, believed to be on his way out imminently.
Rumours have swirled in Westminster that Sir Keir intends to replace Sir Chris with Dame Antonia Romeo, a civil servant who also worked at the Foreign Office during Lord McDonald’s tenure.
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