A former Whitehall equalities chief who helped draft the UK’s pioneering gender pay gap policy is set to become director of Jeremy Corbyn’s office, HuffPost
UK can reveal.
Helene Reardon Bond, who was head of the Government Equality Office (GEO) is expected to take up the role, replacing controversial aide Karie Murphy within the next few weeks.
Following a string of internal party controversies, Murphy was this week suddenly moved from Corbyn’s office to Labour’s HQ to take up a new role overseeing ‘election delivery’.
Although the Murphy move was depicted as a ‘secondment’ purely for the snap election, it is understood that Reardon Bond is expected take up the role running the
Labour leader’s office in the Commons.
The exact nature of her duties and title are still to be resolved, several insiders said.
Widely respected inside and outside Whitehall, the former civil servant was the driving force behind the Tory government’s gender pay gap reporting initiative.
In force since it was introduced by
Theresa May in April 2018, the policy requires employers to publish their data on average pay of male and female staff. Men are paid 9.6% more than women, according to the figures filed this year.
It is understood that Murphy was informed of her changed role by Bob Kerslake, the former civil service chief who advises shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Her departure followed deep unease at the highest levels of the party at the departure of policy chief Andrew Fisher, who is understood to have been frustrated with Murphy’s management style and her handling of a range of issues including
Brexit and internal party decisions.
Fisher’s decision to quit emerged last month, when he sent a memo attacking some in the leader’s team of a “lack of professionalism, competence and human decency”, adding he was sick of their “blizzard of lies and excuses”.
This week, his memo was published in full and it detailed a string of grievances at the way internal issues were being handled.
Fisher revealed “a major speech” he was working on “was pulled, without any plan to reschedule”. HuffPost understands that speech was about Brexit, an area where Murphy was widely seen as critical of the party backing a second referendum.
Corbyn is said to have been “incandescent” over a botched plan to remove Tom Watson as deputy leader on the eve of Labour’s conference in Brighton, an incident that threatened to overshadow the party’s
election policies. Murphy was seen as having played a role in the plan.
Sources close to McDonnell have denied he played any role in personnel matters for the leader’s office, but the website Skawkbox this week quoted insiders blaming him for Murphy’s departure.Related... No Referendum Before A General Election, Says Jeremy Corbyn
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