Sir Keir Starmer has given a peerage to an aide who supported a paedophile. Matthew Doyle was Downing Street's director of communications until leaving the role in March. He was included in the list of nominations for the House of Lords released earlier this month, and now it has emerged that the former spin doctor stood by a paedophile former Labor councilor in Moray, Scotland.
Sean Morton retained Doyle's help after he was charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children in December 2016. After being immediately suspended by Labour, Morton was later convicted in December 2017 of having been in possession of multiple pictures of naked girls as young as 10-years-old.
Despite the charges, Doyle knocked on doors for Morton during an election campaign as an independent for the Fochabers Lhanbryde ward in May 2017, and was pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Re-elect Sean Morton” on it.
He also attended a vote count with Morton.
A No. 10 spokeswoman told The Times: “Questions regarding Matthew Doyle's past acquaintance with Sean Morton were thoroughly investigated, including through several interviews with Matthew Doyle, prior to his appointment [to the Lords].”
Doyle told the newspaper: “Sean Morton was maintaining his innocence at this time. I regret supporting him.
“Sean Morton was someone I knew for a period through other shared acquaintances. I have not seen him for years.”
When asked if he had kept in touch with Morton after his conviction, Doyle declined to respond.
The latest nominations for peerages are listed below: