'Gobsmacking hypocrisy!' Starmer accused of 'double standards' after hiring No10 adviser who attended lockdown 'party'

Chandra was hired last month to liaise with city bosses and big business on behalf of the Prime Minister.

He previously worked for private intelligence firm Hakluyt, founded by ex-MI6 spooks, as well as the bust bank Lehman Brothers.

Insiders said Chandra was visiting Downing Street for a meeting with civil servants, The Sun has claimed.

However, Starmer directly referred to the event Chandra was pictured attending last week.

During his rose garden speech, the Prime Minister said: "This is a Government for you, a garden and a building that were once used for lockdown parties.

"Remember the pictures? Just over there? With the wine and the food.

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“Well, this garden and this building are now back in your service."

Tories were left outraged by Starmer’s decision to hire Chandra given his attacks against former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A Johnson ally told GB News: “This is gobsmacking hypocrisy from Starmer and absolute proof ‘partygate’ was a political set up to get Labour in rather than a principled row.”

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart said: “This the sort of rank hypocrisy and double standards that we have already come to expect from this dreary Government.

“The question now is whether Sir Keir Starmer and Sue Gray, his ‘partygate’ inquisitor, knew about it this when Mr Chandra was hired - and what due diligence they did?”

Starmer, who pushed hard for Johnson to resign following ‘partygate’, brought across Sue Gray as his Chief of Staff in September 2023.

She had been tasked with conducting an inquiry into ‘partygate’ while working in the civil service.

The report, which covered 16 events between May 2020 and April 2021, included almost 500-words dedicated to the incident.

However, the row about Chandra also comes after a number of ex-Labour staffers were handed civil service roles, leaving the Prime Minister facing allegations of sleaze.