The British Ambassador to Paris has been appointed the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, responsible for providing international aid to the world’s most devastated regions. It is one of the UN’s top jobs, making Sir John Holmes the most senior British official at the organisation. His title will be the UN’s under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs.

The appointment, to be announced in the next few days, has embroiled Tony Blair in a new cronyism row, because Sir John is a personal friend and holiday companion who has limited experience in emergency relief work compared with his predecessors.

Sir John, who used to be Mr Blair’s principal private secretary, has twice hosted the Blair family on private holidays after Mr Blair appointed him Ambassador to Portugal. Mr Blair and his wife stayed with him in his offical residence for their last break before Cherie Blair gave brith to Leo.

Although Sir John is officially appointed by Ban Ki Moon, the new UN Secretary-General, he was proposed by Britain, which has the right to expect one of its officials in such a senior position.

The appointment has caused outrage among government officials, who claim that Sir John is not the right person for the job. “He has no prior experience, no relevant knowledge of the issues. He’s a Tony crony. They are mates. They go on holiday together. It’s a shocking way to do things,” one said.

The appointment comes after Mr Blair appointed several of his closest aides to the top posts in the Diplomatic Service. Sir Nigel Scheinwald, his chief foreign policy adviser, was appointed the next British ambassador to the US, and Kim Darroch, No 10’s EU adviser, was appointed Ambassador to the EU.

Mr Blair has been accused of cronyism before, notably when he appointed Lord Irvine of Lairg, his former employer, as Lord Chancellor.

Sir John’s predecessors have had long track records in emergency relief work. Jan Egeland, who stepped down last month, had been in charge of Norway’s emergency relief programme, as well as being head of the Norwegian Red Cross. Before that, Kenzo Oshima was appointed after heading Japan’s humanitarian aid programmes.

The job involves overseeing 1,100 staff with a budget of $128 million (£65 million), operating from Darfur in Sudan.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrats’ international development spokesman, said: “It’s ridiculous. It’s not helpful having one of Tony Blair’s close allies and holiday companions having such a hugely important job. These posts need to be above suspicion. We need the right person for the the job, and he’s not an obvious candidate.”

John Horam, a Conservative member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: “If Mr Blair is appointing someone for repaying a debt rather than the best person of the job, it is a pity that some people might suffer. Emergency relief is a tremendously important issue, you do need someone with experience.”

A senior Whitehall source came to Sir John’s defence, pointing out that he served in the High Commission in Delhi where he oversaw reform of Britain’s aid programme in India, and that he helped to negotiate the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland.

The source said: “He is an extremely accomplished public servant and a very effective hands-on operator. He will be seen as a heavyweight influence at the UN. There’s plenty of management stuff in his CV, and there’s certainly enough on the development side.”

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