THE LATEST | CANADAFinancial Times: Morgan McSweeney has resigned as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, as the UK prime minister seeks to appease angry Labour MPs and save his job in the fallout of the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.
The exit of McSweeney, a political protégé of Mandelson, had been demanded by many backbenchers, but the departure of the prime minister’s closest aide leaves Starmer looking isolated and vulnerable…
The Guardian: But while his departure was welcomed by some of the prime minister’s critics, others felt it displayed the kind of political passivity which they say has characterised Starmer’s time in office.
“The idea of Morgan being allowed to resign makes the PM look even weaker,” one MP said. “He should have sacked him – now he risks going down with Morgan.”…
BBC: Yet the elusive Irishman’s sudden departure as Sir Keir Starmer’s top aide – a result of his fateful advice in autumn 2024 that Lord Mandelson should be the UK’s ambassador to Washington – leaves the prime minister exposed in a way that might not be immediately clear.
One question many in Westminster are now pondering is: what sort of politician will Sir Keir be without the man many say was his political brain?
Because unlike almost all relationships between prime minister and adviser, Sir Keir did not choose McSweeney – it was arguably the other way around…