Morgan McSweeney has denied claims he bullied civil servants into appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, widely regarded as a protege of Mandelson, resigned in February over his part in the peer getting the coveted job.
Ahead of his appearance at the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, the political strategist reportedly told a security forum in Kyiv: “I find it strange reading about a character with the same name as mine sometimes.
“I don’t recognise that character,” he said, as first reported by The Times UK.
It comes after former Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins said there was an “atmosphere of pressure” and “constant chasing” from within the private office about Mandelson’s vetting.
Downing Street has already denied that civil servants were bullied or cajoled by McSweeney.
The British Prime Minister’s official spokesman said earlier this week: “There is a distinction clearly between asking reasonably for updates on an appointment process … I would draw a distinction between the idea of pressure and, you know, being kept informed about the process and the progress of the appointment.”
In his exit statement, McSweeney took “full responsibility” for giving Starmer advice that resulted in the “wrong” appointment decision.
He also called for an overhaul of the vetting procedures.
The British Prime Minister was asked whether he had considered resigning during a visit to Newcastle on Thursday.
He said: “Last week, my political opponents were saying that there’s no way a civil servant wouldn’t have told me about the outcome of a developed vetting security exercise.
“Turns out my political opponents were completely wrong about that.
“Then they said that I was dishonest.
“It turns out they were completely wrong about that.
“They are now putting any allegation they can and I will tell you for why – they are opposed politically to what this Government is trying to achieve.”