Former Suffolk Coastal MP Dame Therese Coffey applied to work with the Treasury after losing her seat at the general election, she has told a national newspaper.

But her bid to become the UK director at the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) failed - the final choice for the job rests with Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.

Dame Therese told The Daily Telegraph: “It was an interesting role. I thought I would apply given my experience in government on international work. I have dealt with these sorts of banks before.”

The position carries a salary of £183,400 a year and it is seen as so senior with The Treasury that the final appointment has to be approved by the Chancellor.

Given Dame Therese's long period as a Conservative minister - and her tenure as Liz Truss's deputy during her 49-day Premiership in the autumn of 2022 - it is no great surprise that the Labour leadership at the Treasury would have looked for a different candidate.

Dame Therese was given the title just hours before losing her seat to Labour's Jenny Riddell-Carpenter in the election on July 4.

The EBRD was set up in the early 1990s to support Eastern European countries as the Iron Curtain collapsed.

It is effectively owned by 73 countries. The UK director's salary is paid by the bank but works as part of a Treasury team and is normally a senior civil servant.

Ms Reeves and the incoming Labour government has been very critical about the record of the Conservative-lead governments of the previous 14 years - and especially of Ms Truss' short Premiership which led to a rise in interest rates as financial markets lost faith in her economic plans.