A row has broken out after it emerged that prominent Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart is set to lead the civil service watchdog.
Stuart, a former Labour MP and chair of the Vote Leave campaign, was picked as Boris Johnson’s preferred choice for first civil service commissioner in December.
If confirmed, she would be the first politician to hold the role in more than 100 years.
As well as appearing alongside Johnson during the 2016 referendum, Stuart also urged voters to back the prime minister at the last general election.
As the head of the Civil Service Commission, Stuart will be tasked with regulating appointments for top jobs in Whitehall, overseeing the application of the civil service code and hearing complains from civil servants made under the code.
HuffPost UK has learned that Labour leader Keir Starmer has written to the Cabinet Office raising “questions over whether she is in a position to provide advice and oversight that is independent, impartial and objective”.
In a letter to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay, Starmer said that while Stuart had enjoyed an “admirable career”, “she is a former elected politician and chaired a national political campaign”.
“She is closely politically connected to the current government and has campaigned with many of them on important political matters that are still relevant to the challenges faced by departments,” he said.
“This means that there are questions over whether she is in a position to provide advice and oversight that is independent, impartial and objective.
“Her appointment as the first civil service commissioner raises similar questions.”
Last Monday, MPs on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee quizzed Stuart on her suitability for the role.
Asked by Scottish Conservative MP David Mundell whether she was confident she would be perceived as impartial, Stuart replied: “You have clear processes. That is how people will have confidence in what you do.
“I hope that I will be able to demonstrate that.”
Meanwhile, SNP MP Ronnie Cowan told Stuart that the “business of impartiality” was “incredibly difficult if you have strong views on something”.
“You must find yourself in a position of conflict when you are trying to support Cabinet ministers and the civil service but you have your own particular views about things,” he said.
Stuart responded: “It is perfectly possible and, I think, desirable that, if you have strong views about what should be done—whatever the means of doing it—when there are appointments, it is the function of the civil service and the commissioner to test whether the people who are given a particular task have the skills to fulfil that task.”
The PACAC approved Stuart’s appointment despite expressing “reservations” about her suitability for the role and her perceived impartiality.
The ultimate decision on whether she will get the job rests with Johnson.
Alex Thomas of the Institute for Government said Stuart “looks like the wrong appointment” for the role.
“Being seen to be impartial is vital,” he said. “Being an ally or ideological fellow-traveller of the prime minister is not. For this reason, Gisela Stuart looks like the wrong appointment.”
Stuart’s appointment is likely to prove more controversial in light of the partygate scandal that exposed the close relationship between some Downing Street officials and civil servants.
Simon Case, the head of the civil service, was initially tasked with conducting the inquiry into alleged parties at Downing Street before he was forced to recuse himself following allegations he attended an online quiz in the Cabinet Office in December 2020.
The report was later taken over by Sue Gray, who blamed the scandal on “failures of leadership and judgment”.
A Labour source accused the prime minister of “making a joke of the system”.
“We’ve seen that the prime minister is very willing to throw civil servants under the bus to save his own skin, and now he’s decided to appoint his campaign friend to uphold the civil service code — he’s making a joke of the system,” they told HuffPost UK.
“Civil servants are being hung out to dry by government ministers. The neutrality of this position is more important right now than ever.”
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Baroness Stuart applied through open and fair competition. Her application was carefully considered on its merits by the panel, which interviewed her and found that she was appointable.
“The government considers Baroness Stuart to have the breadth of experience, attributes and independence of judgement needed to effectively lead the Civil Service Commission.”