Doyle used to run communications in Downing Street, but he left that job in March 2025 and was soon made a Labour peer. Then things got messy. Earlier this year, Doyle was suspended from the parliamentary party after news came out linking him to a convicted sex offender.
Doyle’s case popped up during Prime Minister’s Questions. Ed Davey, who leads the Liberal Democrats, and Conservative MP Mike Wood pushed Starmer on whether anyone in Downing Street tried to get Doyle a diplomatic job.
Starmer answered directly. He said Doyle had spent years in public service, worked closely with him, and that it’s pretty common to talk about a future job when someone leaves a senior post. But he stressed nothing official ever came of it—no appointment, no deal.
Doyle says he hasn’t looked for any diplomatic role and insists he didn’t know anything about talks between government officials and the Foreign Office about him.
All of this came up after senior civil servant Olly Robbins raised questions during a Foreign Affairs Committee meeting. He testified right after Starmer fired him last week.
Doyle’s earlier suspension only piled onto the controversy. He apologized for having ties to Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor. Turns out, Doyle helped Morton campaign in 2016—before Morton admitted guilt. Doyle says he supported Morton when Morton was still claiming he was innocent.
Mandelson’s appointment just made things hotter. He got security clearance from the Foreign Office in January 2025, even though vetting flagged concerns.
During that same Prime Minister’s Questions session, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pressed Starmer about whether he’d actually followed proper procedures. She mentioned Robbins’ testimony and asked Starmer if he still backed what he’d said before.
