[ad_1]
Boris Johnson appointed Dan Rosenfield, a relatively little-known former Treasury official and banker, to become his chief of staff, a key part of a reorganization process following the departure of Dominic Cummings.
Rosenfield currently works for Hakluyt, a high-level corporate advisory firm that has several former intelligence members on its staff. He will replace Edward Lister, Johnson’s former assistant and acting chief of staff, on January 1.
Rosenfield, who is Hakluyt’s Global Head of Corporate Clients and runs the UK side of the business, previously held a senior position at Bank of America. He spent more than 10 years as a Treasury official, serving as chief private secretary to Alistair Darling and George Osborne when they were chancellors, from 2007 to 2011.
He chairs World Jewish Relief, a humanitarian agency of the British Jewish community.
The appointment of a relative outsider will confuse those who had been lobbying for the position to turn to a Conservative MP or a well-established political member.
Rosenfield is not well known in conservative circles, he has not even shown any particular affiliation to the party. He has spoken warmly of his time working with Osborne, with some speculating that the former chancellor may have suggested Rosenfield for the role.
A former colleague from Rosenfield’s time as a Whitehall official described him as “popular and smart, very good at work, friendly and sociable,” adding: “It’s a definite change of type for the number 10.” Another said he was “speaking very, very directly.”
The appointment follows the departure of Cummings, Johnson’s controversial senior assistant, and Lee Cain, Downing Street’s communications chief, a fortnight ago amid bitter infighting at No. 10.
Johnson had offered the job of chief of staff to Cain, but some in Downing Street resisted it, including Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds. The role had not officially existed before, although Cummings did in fact act like one.
Several Conservative MPs had urged Johnson to use the exits as an opportunity to renew what many complained about as a dysfunctional operation No. 10, seen as out of touch with MPs and lurching from crisis to crisis.
While Lister took over as chief of staff on a temporary basis, several people were tipped to get the job permanently, including MPs Alex Burghart and Oliver Dowden, and longtime conservative members like Isaac Levido, a protégé of the adviser. politician Lynton. Crosby, who was involved in the electoral victory of the Tories in 2019, or special adviser Henry Newman.
The Downing Street announcement said that Lister, who is now a peer and was a key aide to Johnson when the prime minister was mayor of London, starting in January “will continue to provide support to both the prime minister and the new chief of staff.”
