A row has broken out over Boris Johnson’s decision to give a top job to a Tory MP at the centre of allegations of Islamophobia by one of his parliamentary colleagues.
Mark Spencer has been moved from his role as chief whip to become Commons leader in the prime minister’s mini-reshuffle.
He was at the centre of controversy last month when Nusrat Ghani MP claimed she was told by a party whip that she had lost her job as a minister because her “Muslimness had been raised as an issue” by colleagues.
Spencer identified himself as the whip involved, but strenuously denied Ghani’s claims, which he said were false and “defamatory”.
Boris Johnson subsequently ordered the Cabinet Office to launch an investigation.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP William Wragg has also accused his party’s whips of “blackmail” by threatening to withdraw funding from the constituencies of disloyal backbenchers.
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow Commons leader, said: “It is completely inappropriate for the Prime Minister to appoint as leader of the House a man who faces an ongoing investigation into grotesque racism and who has been publicly accused of blackmail and threatening to withdraw investments for schools and hospitals unless MPs toe the line.
“This is just the latest in a long line of appointments that demonstrates this Government’s complete disregard for standards in politics.”
The row is significant because, as Commons leasder, Spencer is expected to uphold standards in Parliament.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “There is an investigation ongoing to establish the facts of what happened and that’s being carried out.
“It’s right that we allow that investigation to conclude without pre-empting it or drawing any conclusions while it is going on.”