Downing Street's Consideration of Lord Doyle's Diplomatic Role
Downing Street considered appointing the prime minister's then-director of communications, Lord Doyle, to an ambassadorial position, according to Sir Olly Robbins, the former senior civil servant at the Foreign Office.
Sir Olly made this statement while providing evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee concerning the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the United States.
He expressed feeling "quite uncomfortable" after discussions at No 10 about potentially assigning Lord Doyle a head of mission role, during which he was instructed not to inform the foreign secretary about these talks.
Lord Doyle's Background and Controversies
Lord Doyle was granted a peerage after leaving No 10 in March 2025 but was suspended from the House of Lords in February 2026 due to his associations with a convicted sex offender.
He has issued an apology for his past connection with Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor in Moray who admitted to indecent child image offences in 2017.
This followed a report by the Sunday Times revealing that Lord Doyle campaigned for Morton after charges were brought against Morton in December 2016 for possessing and distributing indecent images of children.
Lord Doyle stated that his support for Morton's election campaign occurred while Morton was maintaining his innocence.
Sir Olly Robbins' Dismissal and Evidence
Sir Olly was dismissed last week after it was revealed that his department had granted Lord Mandelson security clearance despite concerns raised during the vetting process.
During his testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee, he was questioned about whether No 10 had proposed other political appointments during his tenure leading the Foreign Office.
He responded that No 10 showed interest in diplomatic opportunities for Lord Doyle and initiated several discussions with him about potentially finding a head of mission role for Doyle while he served as the prime minister's director of communications.
"I was under strict instruction not to discuss that with the then foreign secretary, which was uncomfortable,"
Sir Olly added that he was uncertain about who exactly proposed the idea or how serious the suggestion was.
The proposal emerged shortly after Sir Olly assumed leadership of the Foreign Office in January 2025, while Lord Doyle was still at No 10, and at a time when potential job losses were being considered within the department.
"I found it very hard to think how I would explain to the office what the credentials of Matthew [Doyle] were to be in an important head of mission role when I was in danger of making very senior, very experienced diplomats leave the office,"
Sir Olly stated he felt uncomfortable about the situation and repeatedly advised that it would be difficult for the office and for him personally to justify.
He also claimed that Lord Mandelson was consulted regarding the possibility of a role in Washington for Lord Doyle.
Political Reactions and Criticism
Sir Keir Starmer has faced criticism over his decision to appoint Lord Doyle to the House of Lords.
The controversy has intensified questions about the prime minister's judgment, especially following his appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the US despite awareness of Mandelson's friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Labour Party campaign group Mainstream stated that the revelations about Lord Doyle demonstrate a "culture of centralisation and patronage" at the party's leadership, which is enabling "catastrophic mis-steps and undermining our relationship with the public."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey described Sir Olly's claims about Lord Doyle as "incredibly damning for Keir Starmer," indicating they reveal "not just a lapse in judgement" but "a pattern of behaviour."
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn criticized Sir Keir for ignoring warnings about Lord Doyle's connections to a convicted sex offender, commenting on social media:
"And it now turns out he had even higher hopes for Doyle. Just extraordinary,"
Lord Doyle's Political Career
Like Lord Mandelson, Lord Doyle has been a significant figure on the right wing of the Labour Party.
The veteran Labour spin doctor served as the party's head of press between 1998 and 2005 before working for Lord Blunkett and Sir Tony Blair.
He resigned as Sir Keir Starmer's head of communications in March 2025 and was granted a peerage by the prime minister in December 2025.
Following the Sunday Times report in December 2025 about Lord Doyle's prior campaigning for Morton, No 10 stated that their past association was "thoroughly investigated, including through several interviews with Matthew Doyle, prior to his appointment."
However, defending the appointment earlier in 2026, Sir Keir acknowledged that Lord Doyle "did not give a full account" of his links to Morton.
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