It was “understandable” the Conservatives wanted to make a “political issue of it”, but it was “perfectly appropriate within the rules to appoint people, for example in Mr Corfield’s circumstances, for a fixed period of time to deliver a fixed outcome, by bringing in the skills that were needed and were not currently available in the Treasury”, he said.
Asked if he was happy with how the situation looked, Mr Jones said: “Even from an optics perspective, I am comfortable with it because all of the rules have been followed.
“It’s good to bring in external expertise into the civil service to deliver on our priorities and it’s good to bring in that challenge, that different set of experience, especially from the private sector.”
There are no rules automatically preventing someone being appointed to a civil service role because of a political donation, but candidates are told they must understand the requirement to act impartially if appointed.
Ms Sargeant previously focused on constitutional issues when she worked for Labour Together, external, a think tank close to Sir Keir Starmer, and at the Institute for Government think tank.
According to the Cabinet Office, the PCG is responsible for “ensuring the highest standards of propriety and ethics across all government departments”, as well as “overseeing constitutional policy and providing advice to ministers”.
The Cabinet Office said her role would not involve propriety casework or investigations. Instead, it was to provide policy expertise, particularly on constitutional reform.
As well as Mr Corfield, the government has faced questions about another individual linked to previous donations to the Labour Party being appointed to a senior civil service role.
Emily Middleton was named a director general in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), where the secretary of state is Peter Kyle.
She was previously a partner at consultancy firm Public Digital, which paid for her secondment to Mr Kyle’s office in opposition – a donation in kind of more than £65,000. She was also seconded to Labour Together.
A government spokesperson said Ms Middleton’s appointment was made “in line with the civil service rules on recruitment”.
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