Number 10 has been accused of a "revolving door" as it refused to say whether new finance secretary Emma Reynolds would shy away from its China policy after lobbying the government on the issue.

Reynolds, a former managing director of TheCityUK, a lobby group for banks and other financial services companies, has previously pressured the government to exempt China from the strictest foreign influence registration rules.

Reynolds succeeds Tulip Siddiq as minister of municipal government and anti-corruption. Siddiq resigned on Tuesday amid outrage over her use of property linked to her aunt, an ally of Bangladesh's ousted prime minister.

Downing Street has repeatedly refused to say whether Reynolds would recuse herself from future decisions involving the scheme, despite her previous work at financial services firms linked to China.

Keir Starmer's official spokesman said the new city government minister "brings a wealth of experience to the role", adding: "In terms of the ministerial appointment process, the usual way will be followed ”

Starmer said on Wednesday he had "sadly" accepted Siddique's resignation and found ministers had "not breached the code", but said he wanted to "make it clear that the door remains open for you going forward".

"She knows he found no wrongdoing and the former minister cooperated fully. She self-recommended a week ago on Monday; I received the report yesterday; she resigned yesterday afternoon," the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons.

"Compare that to the shadow foreign secretary (Priti Patel) who breached the ministerial code. But the two former leaders of the opposition ignored it. The adviser later had to resign because he was not taken seriously... Formation What a contrast. Thank God the British public kicked them out."

Ministerial standards adviser Laurie Magnus said in a letter to the prime minister that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Siddiq, but he also stressed that he did not have all the information and suggested she could have Learn more about this reputation. The risks of her association with her aunt Sheikh Hasina.

Siddiq later resigned, saying that while she had done nothing wrong, she was worried about distracting the government.

It emerged on Wednesday that Siddique was under investigation for a third time in Bangladesh, where her aunt's government was overthrown in an uprising this summer. Akhtar Hussain, director-general of the country's anti-corruption commission, told Sky News that the commission was "preparing another investigation into Tulip Siddiq and her uncle Tariq Siddiq on charges of including money laundering, abuse of power and illegal occupation of Bangladesh government property.”

A spokesman for Siddiq said: "No evidence has been provided for these allegations. Tulip Siddiq has not been contacted by anyone regarding this matter and completely denies these claims."

Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, defended the government's handling of the issue, saying he was pleased to work with Siddique again and dismissed the idea that her appointment showed a lack of judgment on Starmer's part.

Since Siddiq's departure on Tuesday, the focus has turned to Reynolds and his lobbying role in financial services.

Labor colleague Prem Sikka, an accounting professor, wrote in The X on Wednesday about the "revolving door" of government.

"Tulip Siddiq resigned as UK finance minister after becoming embroiled in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. He was replaced by Emma Reynolds, a former director of financial industry lobby group TheCityUK. The government is deregulating the city ," he said.

While Reynolds was in the UK city last year, the group also lobbied the then chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to ask the financial regulator to water down its new enforcement approach, which would mean companies under investigation for wrongdoing could do so in the public interest. The case is named.

The organization, which describes itself as a "membership group that lobbies on behalf of industry", says its website shows Reynolds met with the then shadow Treasury team, including Rachel Reeves and Tulip Siddiq, on several occasions during his role at TheCityUK.

Labor launched its financial services plan at TheCityUK last year. Siddiq also posted on LinkedIn that she had "worked closely with TheCityUK and its members in recent years to develop Labour's policy for the financial and professional services sector, and a future Labor government will build on this important partnership".