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Michael Ellam, Gordon Brown’s former media chief, will on Monday be named by Sir Keir Starmer to lead the UK’s highly sensitive “reset” talks with the EU, putting him in one of the most exposed positions in Whitehall.
Ellam, a former Treasury official and currently a senior HSBC executive, will join a team of about 50 civil servants in the Cabinet Office charged with getting a better post-Brexit deal from Brussels.
Ellam will act as Starmer’s “sherpa” in the talks, in a role which the official job advert admitted would “receive significant public scrutiny and public attention”.
The position was previously held by Sir Olly Robbins, who was subject to heavy media and political criticism over his efforts to negotiate a softer form of Brexit on behalf of ex-Tory premier Theresa May.
Ellam will join a Whitehall team already dubbed “the surrender squad” by Lord David Frost, Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiator. It is overseen by cabinet office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds.
The EU team, which was transferred from the Foreign Office, will sit at the heart of government, in a sign of the importance attached by Starmer to the EU talks.
Ellam, whose long Treasury career saw him working closely with both Tory chancellor Lord Ken Clarke and Labour chancellor and prime minister Brown, will also be Starmer’s principal adviser on international economic issues.
Starmer wants to reduce post-Brexit trade barriers to boost growth, including striking a veterinary deal to smooth the flow of agricultural products, and develop security ties with the EU.
Brussels is pushing for increased youth mobility rights and access to UK fisheries grounds, both of which are politically problematic for Starmer’s government.
Talks are likely to be protracted and are certain to draw criticism from the Conservatives and right-wing newspapers, which believe Starmer is trying to “undo Brexit”.
Ellam joins a number of experienced former officials signed up to Starmer’s top team who served in the New Labour governments of the 1990s and 2000s.
Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, is now Starmer’s national security adviser, while New Labour architect Lord Peter Mandelson is to be Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
Ellam, who will earn between £153,000 and £200,000 a year as “second permanent secretary, European Union and International Economic Affairs”, is viewed in Whitehall as a skilled technocrat who will not seek the limelight in his new role.
The job is a recreation of the international “sherpa” role previously held by Treasury heavyweights such as Sir Tom Scholar, Sir Ivan Rogers and Sir Jon Cunliffe. Ellam will also advise Starmer on international economic issues, including G7 and G20 summits.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said last month: “In every negotiation — from trade union pay deals to the Chagos Islands — Keir Starmer has given away everything for nothing in return.”
Thomas-Symonds, said: “I am delighted that Michael Ellam is bringing his talents to the heart of government, helping us tackle barriers to trade, keep people safe and take on shared global challenges, like illegal migration.”
Ellam said he was “delighted” to be returning to the civil service after a decade working in the private sector.
