{"id":415510,"date":"2026-02-09T01:27:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/415510\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T01:27:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:27:06","slug":"starmer-in-fight-to-reassert-control-over-labour-party-after-mcsweeney-exit-labour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/415510\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer in fight to reassert control over Labour party after McSweeney exit | Labour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keir Starmer is fighting to reassert control over his party after accepting the resignation of his closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney<\/a>, amid anger over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.<\/p>\n

After days of pressure over the scandal, his departing chief of staff said on Sunday he took \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for his advice to send Mandelson to Washington<\/a> despite his ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, which McSweeney conceded had undermined trust in Labour and in politics itself.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s allies hope the departure of one of the most powerful and divisive Labour advisers in recent political history will help quell mounting anger among MPs over his leadership \u2013 and keep potential challengers at bay. But the loss of the man seen as the architect of Starmer\u2019s rise to power<\/a> is a huge blow. The focus is now set to turn once again to the decision made by the prime minister to appoint Mandelson.<\/p>\n

McSweeney (right) and Mandelson last June. The departing chief of staff said he took \u2018full responsibility\u2019 for his advice on the US ambassadorial appointment. Photograph: Tayfun Salci<\/p>\n

Senior Labour sources said McSweeney\u2019s departure had left the prime minister dangerously exposed as he headed towards a series of policy and electoral challenges<\/a> \u2013 including the Gorton and Denton byelection later this month \u2013 that could determine his political fate.<\/p>\n

A source close to Downing Street said: \u201cKeir has just lost his firewall, on Mandelson and a whole load of other issues. Where does he think the anger gets directed next?\u201d<\/p>\n

One MP said: \u201cThe buck ultimately stops with the PM. All this has done has bought him a little more time but he\u2019s mortally wounded and it\u2019s not if, it\u2019s when he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior government figures said the pressure would only increase on Starmer with the expected release of hundreds of thousands of documents, including private WhatsApp messages and emails between Mandelson, No 10 officials and ministers while he was in Washington.<\/p>\n

One well-placed source said the documents would show that the Cabinet Office\u2019s propriety and ethics team had warned of the serious reputational risk of appointing Mandelson given his publicly known links with Epstein.<\/p>\n

The loss of McSweeney is a blow to Starmer, who had come to rely on his political judgment, often over his own, despite No 10 regularly coming under fire as a result. The pair were understood to have had several conversations over the last few days about McSweeney\u2019s future before reaching agreement on Sunday that he should go.<\/p>\n

Political opponents and senior figures inside the Labour<\/a> party accused the prime minister of leaving McSweeney to carry the can over Mandelson\u2019s appointment when ultimately it came down to Starmer\u2019s own political judgment. Allies of McSweeney said it was wrong to suggest he had pushed for the appointment, with one saying: \u201cHe gave his advice, but that\u2019s all it was. Keir made the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement on Sunday, McSweeney said<\/a>: \u201cAfter careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself. When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the vetting process for appointments needed \u201cfundamental overhaul\u201d after the Mandelson affair. \u201cThis cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard for the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Downing Street staff received an email on Sunday evening confirming Starmer had asked Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson<\/a>, McSweeney\u2019s deputies, to take over as acting chiefs of staff, with immediate effect.<\/p>\n

Since Labour entered power, McSweeney has been a lightning rod for discontent among some backbenchers and grassroots members who were uncomfortable with his style and the direction the party was taking on issues including immigration and welfare cuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A senior MP said: \u201cIt\u2019s about time. McSweeney was behind a string of terrible decisions because he cannot behave anything other than factionally. The PM needs to grip this and bring in a much wider range of voices than those he\u2019s listened to up to now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A series of senior Labour politicians had lined up to criticise the No 10 operation over the weekend. The former prime minister Gordon Brown said Starmer was a man of integrity but had been \u201cslow to do the right things\u201d.<\/p>\n

David Blunkett said the situation was \u201cdire\u201d for Starmer and that McSweeney needed to go. But the former home secretary also warned allies of Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting<\/a> to stop the briefing wars. \u201cWhen people see a party acting like ferrets in a sack they draw their conclusions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Others shared concerns that Starmer was not up to the task. One former New Labour cabinet minister said: \u201cAlthough there may be some satisfaction at Morgan\u2019s resignation, my concern is the problem is Keir, not his advisers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friends of McSweeney told the Guardian he planned to step away from politics for a period but that he was unlikely to stay on the sidelines for good. \u201cMorgan has been doing this for 25 years, I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll get more involved again in future, but not right now,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n

McSweeney said in his statement: \u201cThis has not been an easy decision. Much has been written and said about me over the years but my motivations have always been simple: I have worked every day to elect and support a government that puts the lives of ordinary people first and leads us to a better future for our great country. Only a Labour government will do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI leave with pride in all we have achieved mixed with regret at the circumstances of my departure. But I have always believed there are moments when you must accept your responsibility and step aside for the bigger cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer said on Sunday he owed McSweeney a \u201cdebt of gratitude\u201d. He said in a statement: \u201cHe turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign. It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prime minister had expressed confidence in his former right-hand man as recently as Thursday<\/a>. McSweeney is the second Downing Street chief of staff to stand down, after Sue Gray quit in 2024<\/a>, and it is the latest in a slew of departures from No 10 in recent months.<\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said the prime minister should \u201ctake responsibility\u201d for his actions. \u201cIt\u2019s about time. But once again with this PM it\u2019s somebody else\u2019s fault: \u2018Mandelson lied to me\u2019 or \u2018Morgan advised me\u2019. Keir Starmer<\/a> has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions. But he never does.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer is fighting to reassert control over his party after accepting the resignation of his closest adviser,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-415510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}