Treasury Fail To Inform Watchdog Of Official’s Lab Donations

Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street team is facing new divisions as the prime minister prepares to appoint his most powerful civil service aide, The Times has been told.
Sue Gray, the prime minister’s chief of staff, is said to be keen to recruit Daniel­ Gieve, a senior civil servant with whom she worked at the ­Cabinet Office, as Starmer’s principal private secretary (PPS).
Some in No 10 are uneasy about the proposed appointment. Downing Street figures believe Gieve is favourite — and Gray’s choice — for the job, which is second only in constitutional importance to the cabinet secretary.
Sue Gray is said to want to recruit a senior civil servant she worked with at the ­Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office did not deny that the recruitment process had been led by Gray but dismissed suggestions that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, had raised any objection.
The tension over Starmer’s choice of PPS comes amid frustration over government appointments, which ministers privately criticise as “chaotic” and last week led to a row over cronyism.
New hires have effectively become a proxy war for influence as Starmer’s Downing Street operation takes shape, with Gieve now caught in the crossfire.
In the coalition years Gieve was principal private secretary to Francis ­Maude, then the Cabinet Office minister responsible for David Cameron’s ­reform of the civil service, where he worked with Gray. He subsequently served as chief of staff to Roland Rudd, the multimillionaire Finsbury chairman, and served on the board of Open Britain, the pro-second referendum campaign controlled by Rudd, brother of Amber, the former home secretary.
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Finsbury, now known as FGS Global, donated staff to Labour’s election campaign and helped broker private dinners between senior shadow cabinet ministers and business leaders while the party was in opposition.

Gieve runs the government’s Office for Investment, set up by Rishi Sunak to provide “concierge-style support” to firms and people seeking to invest more than £100 million in British business.

Despite his Whitehall pedigree, figures in Downing Street have questioned whether Gieve, who is well ­regarded by senior Tories, is the best choice and believe Gray is seeking to impose a candidate of her own choosing­.