PM approved bonus of £15,000 to £20,000 for Oliver Robbins - a key adviser behind her softer Brexit strategy | The Guardian |

Robbins worked for David Davis at DExEU until September, before switching to work directly for May as her chief Europe adviser as the prime minister cut out Davis and took direct control of the Brexit negotiating strategy.

He was the key adviser behind May's new softer Brexit strategy, first unveiled at Chequers, which led to the resignations of Davis and Boris Johnson. Davis had been working on his own strategy white paper only to discover that May and Robbins had developed their own approach and only consulted him at the last minute.

The civil servant has become a lightning rod for Brexiters' frustration with the direction of May's Brexit policy. Stewart Jackson, a former MP who was Davis's chief of staff, accused Robbins of "blocking the publication" of the DExEU white paper from March and wanting a "Hotel California Brexit" in which the UK checks out but never leaves.

Immediately after Davis quit, 50 DExEU staff were seconded to work for Robbins in his team at the Cabinet Office as May tries to step up the pace of the Brexit negotiations in the runup to a critical meeting of EU leaders in October.

A career civil servant, Robbins has been at the heart of the political establishment. He worked in Number 10 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and his career was championed by the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood.