Former Tory deputy PM applies for Labour Treasury role

A general election loser and a former deputy prime minister from the Tory party recently sought a position in a senior Labour Treasury which this newspaper can now disclose. 
 
Thérèse Coffey who failed to make the cut in Suffolk Coastal constituency last month was probably angling for the role of the UK director at the EBRD. 
 
The job is regarded as director grade at Treasury and it is the chancellor Rachel Reeves who makes the appointments. 
 
Along with it comes an annual allowance of £183,400, which is not far off twice that of an MP. Ms Coffey did not pass the application process of which the Treasury was in charge. 
 
Ms Coffey, who was deputy prime minister and health secretary under Liz Truss, told The Telegraph: “It was an interesting role,” I said, “I believed I would apply because of my experience in government on international work, I have dealt with these sort of banks before. ” 
 
Ms Coffey was one of the closest political friends of Ms Truss, whose premiership Ms Reeves and other Labour ministers have vehemently condemned. 
 
She was at the head of government when the ill-prepared mini-Budget was launched, which prompted the Bank of England to intervene to steer rates up to defend pension funds. 
 
Ms Reeves has sought to set herself apart from what she perceives as the irresponsible approach of Ms Truss, such as by bolstering the OBR. 

Ms Coffey has occupied other cabinet positions. She was the work and pensions secretary under Boris Johnson’s premiership for three years and environment secretary under Rishi Sunak. 
 
While working during the environment brief, she was involved in the provision of funds to development banks which may have prepared her for the job at EBRD. 
 
She also worked in the corporate world, particularly in the health industry and especially in mergers and acquisitions prior to her political career. 
 
‘Representing the UK’ 

The EBRD was established in 1991 when the Soviet Union was breaking up to fund market reforms in the former socialist states of eastern Europe. It is a development bank that offers credit facilities to firms. 
 
Currently, the bank has 73 effective members through which most of its funding is achieved including the United Kingdom. There is evidence that the Government has invested more than £200 million since the organisation’s creation. 
 
The bank has a board of governors comprising officials from governments of the member countries, these being the finance ministers normally. UK role is held by Ms Reeves. 
 
There is also the board of directors that in the given case participates in the bank’s work more actively. The United Kingdom has two directors’ positions, out of which Ms Coffey was interested in. 
 
 An advertisement for the role was made by Treasury in LinkedIn, a business social media platform in July with description of what the position demanded. 
 
Among the responsibilities of the position, there is “to effectively and credibly advocate for the UK and promote UK’s interests at the EBRD board”. 
 
The individual would have to liaise with Treasury policy teams and the Foreign Office to ‘develop and deliver a forward-looking strategic plan for UK interests’. 
 
The salary would be paid by the bank according to the decided standard and grade of the position. However, it was well stated in the job advert that the holder of the position is (de facto) is one of the directors in HM Treasury. 
 
It is usually occupied by civil servants for ease of implementation of their functions. I have not seen any senior Tory moving around seeking to help a Labour government, or vice versa, indeed having done so in government so recently. 
 
Ms Reeves criticised Ms Truss’s tenure as recently as this August, saying: “Millions of people are still paying the price for Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget. ” 
 
‘Fix the foundations’ 

“That is why I am taking the tough measures now to put right the problems in the structure of the British economy, so that we can again rebuild Britain, and ensure that every corner of our United Kingdom is richer. ” 
 
Labour has put forward a new law that would require the involvement of the OBR, the independent economic forecaster for the decision making on changes in taxation and spending. 
 
Ms Truss was accused of not asking the OBR to provide an analysis of her mini-budget, in September 2022, which the critics said explained the market downturn. 
 
Ms Coffey is among over 200 Tory MPs yet to give details of what they intend to do after they lost their seats in the July general elections. She had been the MP for Suffolk Coastal since 2010 but the Conservative lost this seat to the Labour party.