Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Michael Ellam, a former adviser to Gordon Brown, to lead his reset negotiations with the EU.
Mr Ellam will leave his job at the bank HSBC to become the Cabinet Office’s second permanent secretary, European Union and International Economic Affairs.
He becomes the latest figure from the New Labour years to return to government, following Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff who is now Sir Keir’s national security adviser, and the former cabinet minister Lord Mandelson, who will shortly become the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
Since coming to power in July, the government has repeatedly said it wants to improve relations with the EU.
However, the prime minister has stressed that does not mean a reversal of Brexit.
By accepting the role, Mr Ellam effectively takes over from Sir Olly Robbins, who led Brexit negotiations for Theresa May and whose return to the civil service as the head of the Foreign Office was announced last week.
The advert for the job said that the position would “receive significant public scrutiny and public attention”.
Mr Ellam worked as a civil servant for 20 years including a two year stint as Downing Street’s director of communications, when Gordon Brown was prime minister.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “Michael’s experience at the highest levels of international finance will be a huge asset as we work to deliver economic growth on behalf of the British people, including through resetting our relationship with the EU.”
Former Chancellor George Osborne, who worked with Mr Ellam at the Treasury, described him as “one of the sharpest, most strategic minds, in the best traditions of the impartial civil service”.
