Keir Starmer’s judgement is under fresh scrutiny after serious questions emerged over the suitability of two more Labour peers he recently appointed to the House of Lords.
The newly ennobled Lord Joe Docherty of Milngavie, who was nominated by the prime minister, was stripped of the party whip on Saturday, pending an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour at a sixth form college.
Another of the prime minister’s nominees, education expert Baroness Limb, has announced that she will not take up her seat in the Lords following revelations in The Sunday Times that she lied about having a PhD.
This brings the number of Starmer’s appointments to the Lords facing serious questions up to three after his former director of communications, Lord Matthew Doyle, was suspended after details emerged about his close links to a paedophile.
The latest developments could not come at a worse time for a prime minister who is battling to remain in Downing Street in the wake of the disastrous Gorton and Denton by-election result, where Labour came third to the Greens and Reform UK in what had been their seventh safest seat.
They have echoes of Sir Keir’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US and a failure to properly vet individuals being elevated to important roles under his watch. Mandelson was dramatically sacked from the role last year and later resigned from the House of Lords and the Labour Party over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Last week, he was arrested over claims he leaked sensitive documents to Epstein while he was business secretary.
The Sunday Times reported that Lord Docherty, 57, resigned as chief executive of NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group) in October 2018 following allegations of inappropriate conduct.
It was claimed Docherty had exchanged more than 50 sexual messages on the same day as an Ofsted inspection and met partners for sexual liaisons at hotels paid for by NCG during working hours.
In one message, Doherty said: “My work scheduled a conference call for 10.30am tomorrow but I’ve given my apologies so we can meet.”
The Labour Party said on Saturday: “[We expect] the highest standards from our members. All complaints are thoroughly assessed in line with our rules and procedures.”
Docherty said: “I fully accept that, whether as a member of the House of Lords or as a senior executive, accountability is paramount and I welcome legitimate scrutiny. However, I am also entitled to a private life. The apparent leaking of a version of a confidential internal HR report and The Sunday Times’s reliance upon such a document is disgraceful.
“The claims being made were robustly disputed at the time and would have been vigorously challenged had the matter proceeded to a disciplinary hearing, which it did not.”
Already this weekend, questions were being asked by Labour MPs as well as opposition parties over why Sir Keir had failed to sack a Cabinet Office minister, Josh Simons, who was accused of running a smear campaign against journalists in his former job as director of the controversial Labour Together thinktank.
Mr Simons resigned on Saturday after an investigation by ethics advisor Sir Laurie Magnus cleared him of suggestions he had breached the ministerial code.
But Sir Keir was criticised for not sacking the former minister weeks ago.
Labour MP Clive Lewis told The Independent: “A prime minister who is serious about standards doesn’t wait for an ethics adviser to state the obvious. Sir Laurie Magnus has now concluded what many could see from the start: that a minister attempted to undermine and smear journalists for doing their job. Asking questions. Holding power to account.
“Instead of acting decisively, the prime minister chose to wait. He chose process over principle. And in doing so, he projected weakness where clarity was required.”
The questions of judgment have dogged the prime minister since the fallout over his appointment of Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US.
But other appointments have also raised questions, including making Tulip Siddiq the anti-corruption minister only for her to have to resign over allegations of corruption in Bangladesh – claims she denies.
He made Rushanara Ali minister for homelessness, only for her to have to resign for evicting tenants from one of her properties so she could increase the rent.
And his former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who he put in charge of housing, was forced to quit over failing to pay her stamp duty.
Many Labour MPs have set a deadline for the local and devolved elections on 7 May to decide on the prime minister’s future, with rivals circling to replace him.
