Morgan McSweeney quits as Keir Starmer’s Downing Street chief of staff over Mandelson scandal

Morgan McSweeney has resigned as the 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 Mandelson.

Click here to follow the latest in our live blog

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.

Mr McSweeney was seen as instrumental in the appointment of 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.

open image in gallery

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.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said that it 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, who could trigger Starmer’s downfall if they win the crucial Gorton and Denton by-election on 26 February, said the resignation “confirms the chaos at the heart of Starmer’s government.”

It came despite his closest cabinet ally, welfare secretary Pat McFadden, saying that Mr McSweeney, who oversaw Labour’s election victory just 19 months ago with him, should not go.

But following damning comments from former PM Gordon Brown, Lord Blunkett led the charge for McSweeney to be sacked.

The former home secretary told BBC Radio 4: “[Starmer] needs a new chief of staff, he needs an opening up of the routes to him so that people can reach him and he can hear what people are thinking and feeling.”

open image in gallery

Meanwhile, a number of leading female Labour figures including Baroness Ayesha Hazarika condemned “the boy’s club” in Downing Street which had led to the appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the US.

Mr McSweeney, 48, had already been a controversial figure in the Downing Street operation and was facing demands to resign as recently as December, following a hostile briefing from No10 officials about health secretary Wes Streeting.

A close ally of his Paul Ovenden 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 Mandelson to be made ambassador last year, despite concerns from the Donald Trump administration and red flags raised by the security services over the former Labour grandee’s links to China and Epstein.

Revelations that Mandelson leaked confidential and market sensitive government material to Epstein have led to a police investigation and seen him forced to quit Labour and the House of Lords.

As outrage grew, Sir Keir last week was forced to release all the vetting documents relating to his appointment.

McSweeney has been accused of wanting to replicate the Tony Blair era of government and relied on big beasts from that period, including Mandelson, who had been his mentor.

To make matters worse when Sir Keir sacked Mandelson as ambassador in September last year it is understood that 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, McSweeney, whose wife Imogen Walker is an MP, was also blamed for the overpromising in the manifesto which is in part responsible for the various U-turns in recent months.

Along with the prime minister he was also blamed for an apparent lack of direction and narrative in a Labour government which has plummeted to below 20 per cent in the polls and never enjoyed a honeymoon period despite winning a huge majority.

The resignation though has not protected Sir Keir from demands he also quit.

Asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether Sir Keir should quit, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary Steve Wright said: "Everybody's thinking it."

He joined a growing number of Labour peers and MPs who believe the PM’s position is “untenable”.

Current deputy prime minister David Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time of the appointment, and his predecessor as DPM Angela Rayner, have said they advised against appointing Mandelson at the time.