'I worry for the future of the country!' Lee Anderson claims Keir Starmer is 'filling the civil service with his friends'

'I worry for the future of the country!' Lee Anderson claims Keir Starmer is 'filling the civil service with his friends'

'I worry for the future of the country!': Lee Anderson claims

GB News
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 22/08/2024

- 09:21

Updated: 22/08/2024

- 10:56

Sue Gray is facing a backlash after a former Labour think tank staffer was handed a senior role in the Cabinet Office

Reform MP Lee Anderson accused Sir Keir Starmer of "filling the civil service with his friends" in a furious rant on GB News.

Anderson said he was "worried for the future of the country" after it emerged that a former Labour think tank staffer had been handed a top job in the civil service.


Jess Sargeant, who previously worked for Labour Together, has been made a deputy director in the Government’s Propriety and Constitution Group (PCG).

The appointment has sparked outrage with the new Government being accused of "cronyism".

Lee Anderson

Lee Anderson said the Civil Service has been "infiltrated by the left"

GB News

Speaking to GB News, Lee Anderson said: "The problem we have at the moment is there's no Opposition in Parliament.

"We see the civil service being infiltrated by the left. Most of the councils in the country are now run by the Labour Party. Most of the police and crime commissioners in the country are Labour police and crime commissioners. Most of the mayors in the country are Labour Party members."

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GB News host Patrick Christys pointed out police and crime commissioners and regional mayors are all voted for in local elections.

He said: "They are voting for the mayors etc but the civil service is supposedly impartial.

"If people thought there was a left-wing bias in the civil service, which we were constantly told didn't exist, and now you look at some overt left-wingers and Labour donors being planted into top jobs in the civil service, you do have to wonder, what hope would any right winger ever have of performing a functional Government?"

Anderson responded: "There's no opposition in this country at the moment. Sir Keir Stasi is becoming like an authoritarian leader in this country and he's going to fill the civil service with his friends.

Keir StarmerKeir Starmer waded into the debatePA

"It is cronyism and it's a slippery slope. I'm really worried for the future of this country."

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "There are clear rules governing recruitment and appointment of civil service roles, which are regulated by the Civil Service Commission. We do not comment on individual staffing matters."

This is not the first that a Labour donor has been appointed to a senior role in the civil service.

Lee Anderson

Anderson claimed that Keir Starmer is 'filling the civil service with his friends'

GB News

Ian Corfield was also appointed as the director of investment at the Treasury.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister John Glen slammed the Government for "an abuse of taxpayers’ money" and putting "the fundamental and enduring impartiality of our civil service" at risk.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told BBC Radio 4's World At One that it is "perfectly appropriate" and "it's good to bring in external expertise".

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