Theresa May’s Brexit negotiator Sir Oliver Robbins has been appointed as the Foreign Office’s highest-ranking civil servant.
Sir Oliver will serve as the new permanent under-secretary in a decision likely to infuriate Brexiteers.
He will replace Sir Philip Barton, who is stepping down after nearly four decades at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
But Tory MP Mark Francois, who chairs the European Research Group of backbench Brexiteers, said: “If Labour wanted to rejoin the EU, Olly Robbins, a notable Europhile, is their perfect choice at the FCDO.
“As the official who led the negotiations on Theresa May’s deeply flawed Withdrawal Agreement, he is well connected around the EU.
“I have always argued that Starmer ‘Remains a Remainer’ at heart and this just helps prove it. Labour are going to try and take us back in, one step at a time.”
Sir Oliver led Mrs May’s disastrous attempts to strike a Brexit deal with the EU before leaving the civil service in 2019.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was “exactly the person” to help him “rewire the FCDO to act as the international delivery arm of this Government’s missions”.
Mr Lammy added: “His extensive experience of economic and security issues, gained across a range of Whitehall departments, will stand us in good stead as we reorient the FCDO to focus on growth and migration, while continuing to double down on national security – the foundation of our Plan for Change.
“I would like to thank Sir Philip Barton for his many years of dedicated public service, in particular his leadership as PUS and his support through the recent political transition.”
Sir Oliver said: “It has been my pleasure to work alongside the FCDO’s predecessors for most of my civil service career. I’ve seen our extraordinary diplomatic and development capabilities first hand from Washington DC to Mogadishu, Dublin to Sana’a and Abuja to New Delhi.
“After five years out of the civil service I return believing more strongly than ever in the value of those capabilities and the public service principles that underpin them, while convinced that maintaining the UK’s lead depends critically on understanding and co-opting the pace of change evident in the UK and around the world.”
He currently works for global strategic advisory firm Hakluyt and has previously held roles at Goldman Sachs as well as the Cabinet Office, Treasury and in Downing Street.
Sir Oliver was pipped to the post of Cabinet Secretary – the civil service’s top job – by former health chief Sir Chris Wormald.