Morgan McSweeney resigns as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff

Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and longtime aide, has resigned after a bitter row about supposed plots to bring down the PM.

McSweeney masterminded Starmer’s path to Downing Street less than five years after Jeremy Corbyn’s devastating defeat in the 2019 election.

His position came under intense pressure after a seemingly botched No 10 operation to shore up Starmer’s position by pre-emptively briefing that he would fight vigorously against any efforts to remove him.

The briefings centred on the health secretary, Wes Streeting, who reacted with fury.

McSweeney’s departure follows the recent loss of two other aides who were also particularly close to Starmer, his director of political strategy Paul Ovenden and his communications head Steph Driver.

But the loss of McSweeney, who began his career trying to oust the hard left from Labour in Lambeth, south London, is particularly emblematic given his pivotal role in the Starmer project and the transformation of Labour in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

Despite his success in guiding Labour to a huge majority, McSweeney had critics within the party, and particularly among MPs, a number of whom complained he presided over an unnecessarily factional, petty and cliquey Downing Street operation.

More details soon …