Morgan McSweeney has resigned as Keir Starmer’s Downing Street chief of staff over his role in the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
Sir Keir’s right-hand man, who was credited with masterminding Labour’s landslide election victory in 2024, has stepped down from his role, claiming he takes “full responsibility” for the advice to hire Lord Mandelson.
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In his place, Sir Keir has appointed Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson as his joint chiefs of staff.
It comes amid mounting pressure on the prime minister over the scandal and is already being perceived as a damage limitation exercise to save Sir Keir’s premiership. An Opinium poll over the weekend showed that 55 per cent believe the prime minister should go too.
Mr McSweeney was seen as instrumental in the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the most important diplomatic post, a decision which has become an embarrassment for the government following the latest revelations about his relationship with convicted paedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement, Mr McSweeney said: “After 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.”
Insisting that he “leaves with pride”, he called for a complete overhaul of the vetting procedures in the future, warning that they “cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard”.
Sir Keir said: “It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He 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.
“Having worked closely with Morgan in opposition and in government, I have seen every day his commitment to the Labour Party and to our country. Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service.”
But the decision leaves Sir Keir greatly weakened, with the man at the heart of the Starmer project out of government, and there are questions over whether the prime minister can survive in Downing Street without his right-hand man.
Just five days ago in response to a question by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs, Sir Keir gave Mr McSweeney a vote of confidence.
He said: “Morgan McSweeney is an essential part of my team. He helped me change the Labour Party and win an election. I have confidence in him.”
Ms Badenoch said that the resignation now raises even more questions about the prime minister himself.
She said: “It’s about time. But once again with this PM it’s somebody else’s fault: ‘Mandelson lied to me’ or ‘Morgan advised me.’ Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions. But he never does.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “The prime minister can change his advisers all he likes, but the buck stops with him.”
Reform UK, which could trigger Starmer’s downfall if it wins the crucial Gorton and Denton by-election on 26 February, said the resignation “confirms the chaos at the heart of Starmer’s government”.
Labour MP Brian Leishman said: “The prime minister must look at his own position and question whether he should follow McSweeney’s lead one last time, and resign for the good of the country and the Labour Party.”
It came despite Mr McSweeney’s closest cabinet ally, welfare secretary Pat McFadden, insisting on Sunday morning that he should not go, while former home secretary Lord Blunkett demanded he be sacked.
Meanwhile, a number of leading female Labour figures, including Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, condemned “the boys’ club” in Downing Street.
It is understood that after a fraught week in politics, the PM and Mr McSweeney mutually decided that it was the right moment to move on.
Sources emphasised that the government’s policy agenda has not changed – a relentless focus on cost of living and Sir Keir will be fronting efforts in that regard in the coming week.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir plans to deliver an update on action taken over the Mandelson scandal on Monday.
Mr McSweeney, 48, had already been facing demands to resign as recently as December, following a hostile briefing from No 10 officials about health secretary Wes Streeting.
Paul Ovenden, a close ally of his, was sacked from Downing Street when emails with lurid remarks about veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott emerged.
But the outgoing chief of staff has had to fall on his sword after pushing for Lord Mandelson to be made ambassador last year, despite concerns from Donald Trump’s administration and red flags raised by the security services over the former Labour grandee’s links to China and Epstein.
Revelations that the peer leaked confidential and market-sensitive government material to Epstein have led to a police investigation and forced him to quit Labour and the House of Lords.
As outrage grew last week, Sir Keir was compelled to release all the vetting documents relating to the appointment.
Mr McSweeney has been accused of wanting to replicate the Tony Blair era of government and relied on big beasts from that period, including Lord Mandelson, who had been his mentor.
To make matters worse, when Sir Keir sacked the ambassador to Washington in September last year, it is understood that Mr McSweeney pleaded to keep him in post.
He had already caused controversy by ousting the previous chief of staff, Sue Grey, and replacing her just a few months into the government.
As the man who ran the election campaign in 2024, Mr McSweeney was blamed for the overpromising in the manifesto, which is, in part, responsible for the various U-turns in recent months and for pushing welfare cuts.
In his 18 months in charge, support for the Labour government plummeted to below 20 per cent in the polls.
But Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee came out to defend him, saying: “I have known him personally for six years, and he is one of the most decent people that I’ve ever met in politics.”
