Although David Cameron’s political career took a nose dive after the EU referendum result, he has been doing his best to ensure that his old chums don’t too badly out of the situation. Take for example, Ed Llewellyn — Cameron’s former Chief of Staff. As well as being given a peerage in Cameron’s resignation honours, Llewellyn has been appointed her Majesty’s Ambassador to France.
While it had been previously reported that Cameron was lining up his mate for the plum job, the news has been confirmed today with a statement from Boris Johnson:
‘Ed Llewellyn is hugely well qualified for this post and I look forward to working with him. He has served his country in Bosnia and Hong Kong and has extensive experience of Europe. He will help us make a great success of Brexit while ensuring that Britain is more engaged in the continent of Europe than ever.’
As ‘hugely well qualified’ as he may be, the appointment is unlikely to go down well with certain factions of the party. During Cameron’s renegotiation, Brexiteers were concerned that Llewellyn’s involvement meant trouble given that he has previously worked for both Paddy Ashdown and Chris Patten.
While Llewellyn is affectionately referred to as ‘the pocket Talleyrand’ by Cameron, Vote Leave’s Dom Cummings thinks of him less fondly — describing him as ‘a classic third-rate suck-up-kick-down sycophant presiding over a shambolic court’. The idea that he will now take on a crucial role at the centre of Britain’s Brexit negotiations will fuel allegations of both chumocracy and a soft Brexit being on the cards.
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