Ex-Foreign Office Head Testifies on No. 10's Lord Doyle Ambassador Proposal

Sir Olly Robbins, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office, testified before MPs at the Foreign Affairs Committee that Downing Street considered appointing Lord Matthew Doyle, the former director of communications for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as an ambassador.

Robbins stated he felt quite uncomfortable about the suggestion and provided advice that such an appointment would be very hard for the Foreign Office to manage and hard for him personally to defend. The proposal emerged shortly after Robbins took over leading the Foreign Office in January 2025.

Several discussions were initiated by No 10 with Robbins about finding a head of mission opportunity for Lord Doyle. Robbins said he was under strict instruction not to discuss the appointment proposal for Doyle with the then foreign secretary. At the time, top diplomats were at risk of losing their jobs as part of Foreign Office departmental restructuring discussions.

Robbins told the committee that Lord Mandelson was asked about the prospect of a role in the US network for Lord Doyle. Lord Doyle had the Labour whip withdrawn earlier in 2026 after it emerged he had campaigned on behalf of Sean Morton, who had been charged with possessing indecent images of children.

Doyle apologized for backing Morton before the case against him had concluded. Doyle believed Morton's assertions of innocence before Morton admitted the offending. Doyle stepped down as the Prime Minister’s communications chief last March.

Separately, Robbins has effectively been sacked after his department did not inform the prime minister that Lord Mandelson had failed security vetting. Robbins said he was unsure who exactly was behind the suggestion for Doyle's appointment or how serious it was, adding that he found it very hard to think how he would explain Doyle's credentials to the office amid potential job losses for experienced diplomats.

In his testimony, Robbins noted that the fact that No 10 was interested in potential diplomatic options for Doyle was probably a bit more broadly known than he realized at the time.