Liz Truss’s Deputy PM Therese Coffey Applied For A Role In Labour’s Treasury Department

Therese Coffey reportedly applied for a job within the new Labour government’s Treasury department.

The former deputy PM, who worked under Liz Truss, had been a Conservative MP since 2010 until she lost her seat in the most recent general election to a Labour candidate.

Now one of the more than 200 former Tory MPs on the hunt for a new career, Coffey allegedly applied to be the UK director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Telegraph reported.

The EBRD is a development bank which is funded by the UK and offers loans to companies. It is internationally owned by 73 countries.

Coffey would have been working under chancellor Rachel Reeves, who also has the final say in who gets the job (which comes with a plush £183,400 annual salary).

Reeves, who is the UK delegate of the EBRD, has been highly critical of the legacy the Conservatives left behind for Labour in government.

The former health secretary, one-time deputy Commons leader – who was made a dame in Rishi Sunak’s last-minute honours list – did not get the job.

She told The Telegraph: “It was an interesting role. I thought I would apply given my experience in government on international work. I have dealt with these sorts of banks before.”

Coffey was working under Truss when she was unveiled her disastrous mini-budget with £45bn unfunded tax cuts.

Reeves has since awards the Office for Budget Responsibility greater powers to stop future governments from overlooking its forecasts in any major fiscal announcement (like Truss did).

The coverage around Coffey’s failed job application did infuriate some Conservative figures on X on Wednesday, though.

Former Tory chairman, Richard Holden MP, responded to the scoop saying “this is not a ‘Labour Treasury Role’. It’s a UK role at an international institution”.

Slamming the “sensationalism”, he added: “I don’t know who briefed this, but if it was a Government employee, they should be sacked for breaches too numerous to mention. If it was Rachel Reevesor on her orders, Sir Keir Starmer should show her the door.”

He then complimented the former deputy PM, saying she has “has a wealth of experience including 5 years as a minister, followed by four years as a cabinet minister”.

Simon Clarke, another Truss ally and former minister who lost his seat at the general election, also slammed the story.

As the former chief secretary to the Treasury, he wrote on X: “I really don’t know what is going on here. But it reflects very poorly either on someone at a department I love and respect, [The Treasury] (which I strongly doubt) or on whoever in the Government has briefed this out.”