Starmer's political future hangs in the balance after chief of staff Morgan McSweeney quits over Mandelson scandal

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Starmer's political future hangs in the balance after chief of staff Morgan McSweeney quits over Mandelson scandal

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Sir Keir Starmer is expected to face furious Labour MPs on Monday as he battles to keep them onside amid fallout from the Lord Mandelson scandal.

The prime minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney resigned on Sunday over his role in the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

In a statement announcing his resignation, he said he took “full responsibility” for the advice to Sir Keir to appoint Lord Mandelson despite his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The PM is expected to address the parliamentary Labour Party at a meeting on Monday, with a number of MPs calling for him to follow Lord Mandelson and Mr McSweeney out the door.

Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth said the prime minister should “question whether he should follow McSweeney’s lead” for the “good of the country”.

Other MPs have backed the prime minister but said Labour must become more “inclusive” if he is to survive in No 10.

Rachael Maskell told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour if he did not he would find it “difficult to continue”.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox and Whitehall editor Kave Devlin report:

Sir Keir Starmer’s deputy leader has warned the upcoming by-election in Gorton and Denton is a “dry run” for a general election as the prime minister – wounded by the Peter Mandelson scandal – faces a battle to cling on to the historically safe Labour seat.

Lucy Powell told The Independent that the vote, on 26 February, represents “a line in the sand” in Labour’s fight to stop the advance of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

But she admitted she expects the Mandelson issue to come up on the doorstep, and she could not say that Labour was confident of retaining the seat or if the prime minister will show his face there.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to face furious MPs on Monday as he battles to keep his premiership alive.

The prime minister will meet with the parliamentary Labour party on Monday morning in a bid to reassure his own party he is listening to their concerns.

He is also expected to give a statement on Mandelson scandal and his top aide Morgan McSweeney’s departure in Commons on Monday afternoon.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing further backlash as it emerged that deputy prime minister David Lammy warned the leader about appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador amid his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Friends and allies of Lammy told the Telegraph he had been against the appointment of Mandelson and in favour of an extension of Dame Karen Pierce’s term in the role due to her connections to President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Mr Starmer is said to be “devastated” over the scandal and contemplating whether to stay as PM, according to the publication.

Gordon Brown, who brought Peter Mandelson back into government in 2008, has been speaking out about his former business secretary, and calling for new anti-corruption measures to prevent the leaking of documents from government, which Mandelson is accused of doing.

Senior Tory Alex Burghart was asked if if a new anti-corruption commission would be a good idea, by Sky's Trevor Phillips and he responded: "It depends [on] what that commissioner would do, what their powers were, and who they were.

"I think it's very easy for politicians to, in a moment like this, say, 'if there was only one additional role then everything would be fine'.

"What's happened in this instance is that the prime minister had a clear choice, he had clear information, and he made a bad decision.

"And ultimately, there's nothing that can really guard you against that."

If Sir Keir Starmer has not understood he needs to make the Labour Party inclusive, “he will find it very difficult to continue”, Rachael Maskell said.

The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour: “Let’s listen very carefully over the coming days to see that Keir Starmer has really understood how serious it is, the situation, what he has to do to build that inclusive party.

“And if he can achieve that, if he puts the agenda of inclusion, of building the confidence that he’s going to address those inequalities, not just in his party but across the country, then of course we will see where we get to.

“But if he cannot do that, if he hasn’t understood the seriousness of the situation, then I think he will find it very difficult to continue.”

On the departure of the prime minister’s top aide, Ms Maskell said: “Morgan’s McSweeney’s position was untenable so it is right that he has moved on.

“But still there are questions to be answered about his legacy, how decisions were made… So we do need lots of questions still answering before our confidence can be moved forward.”

Maurice Glasman, Labour peer, told Sky's Trevor Phillips that he advised the prime minister's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, against the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

He explained that after attending Donald Trump's inauguration as president in January 2025, he gave a briefing document to No 10 advising on "the scale of change" that the new administration would bring.

People approached Mr Glasman with photos of Mandelson with Jeffrey Epstein, when he was in Washington and he relayed all this to No10.

"What I wrote was he was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I mean, it was a very inappropriate choice because […] this issue of Epstein is massive in the States - I don't think then, a year ago, we understood the resonance of this story.

"This fulfils all the criteria of the international Jewish conspiracy, the financial elites, paedophilia - it's a massive thing in the States. Now it's here."

Shortly after Morgan McSweeney’s resignation was announced, staff were informed he had turned to Mr McSweeney’s two deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, to replace him as the new joint chiefs of staff for the struggling Downing Street operation.

Who are the two women tasked with righting the course of Sir Keir’s administration?

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox has more below:

Britain has been enfeebled by years of top-level scandals that has gone unpunished, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley.

No wonder young people don’t feel their country is worth fighting for.

In 1999, Gordon Brown's former spokesman, Charlie Whelan, resigned for allegedly leaking information about Mandelson not disclosing an interest-free loan of £373,000 from former paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson.

In recent events, Pater Mandelson received a payment of up to £55,000 before deductions after being fired as US ambassador in September.

This has sparked a reaction from a staff member forced to resign from government nearly three decades ago - for allegedly leaking about Mandelson.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox and Whitehall editor Kave Devlin report:

Sir Keir Starmer’s deputy leader has warned the upcoming by-election in Gorton and Denton is a “dry run” for a general election as the prime minister – wounded by the Peter Mandelson scandal – faces a battle to cling on to the historically safe Labour seat.

Lucy Powell told The Independent that the vote, on 26 February, represents “a line in the sand” in Labour’s fight to stop the advance of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

But she admitted she expects the Mandelson issue to come up on the doorstep, and she could not say that Labour was confident of retaining the seat or if the prime minister will show his face there.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to face furious MPs on Monday as he battles to keep his premiership alive.

The prime minister will meet with the parliamentary Labour party on Monday morning in a bid to reassure his own party he is listening to their concerns.

He is also expected to give a statement on Mandelson scandal and his top aide Morgan McSweeney’s departure in Commons on Monday afternoon.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing further backlash as it emerged that deputy prime minister David Lammy warned the leader about appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador amid his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Friends and allies of Lammy told the Telegraph he had been against the appointment of Mandelson and in favour of an extension of Dame Karen Pierce’s term in the role due to her connections to President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Mr Starmer is said to be “devastated” over the scandal and contemplating whether to stay as PM, according to the publication.

David Lammy . (Lucy North/PA)

Gordon Brown, who brought Peter Mandelson back into government in 2008, has been speaking out about his former business secretary, and calling for new anti-corruption measures to prevent the leaking of documents from government, which Mandelson is accused of doing.

Senior Tory Alex Burghart was asked if if a new anti-corruption commission would be a good idea, by Sky's Trevor Phillips and he responded: \"It depends [on] what that commissioner would do, what their powers were, and who they were.

\"I think it's very easy for politicians to, in a moment like this, say, 'if there was only one additional role then everything would be fine'.

\"What's happened in this instance is that the prime minister had a clear choice, he had clear information, and he made a bad decision.

\"And ultimately, there's nothing that can really guard you against that.\"

If Sir Keir Starmer has not understood he needs to make the Labour Party inclusive, “he will find it very difficult to continue”, Rachael Maskell said.

The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour: “Let’s listen very carefully over the coming days to see that Keir Starmer has really understood how serious it is, the situation, what he has to do to build that inclusive party.

“And if he can achieve that, if he puts the agenda of inclusion, of building the confidence that he’s going to address those inequalities, not just in his party but across the country, then of course we will see where we get to.

“But if he cannot do that, if he hasn’t understood the seriousness of the situation, then I think he will find it very difficult to continue.”

On the departure of the prime minister’s top aide, Ms Maskell said: “Morgan’s McSweeney’s position was untenable so it is right that he has moved on.

“But still there are questions to be answered about his legacy, how decisions were made… So we do need lots of questions still answering before our confidence can be moved forward.”

Maurice Glasman, Labour peer, told Sky's Trevor Phillips that he advised the prime minister's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, against the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

He explained that after attending Donald Trump's inauguration as president in January 2025, he gave a briefing document to No 10 advising on \"the scale of change\" that the new administration would bring.

People approached Mr Glasman with photos of Mandelson with Jeffrey Epstein, when he was in Washington and he relayed all this to No10.

\"What I wrote was he was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

\"I mean, it was a very inappropriate choice because […] this issue of Epstein is massive in the States - I don't think then, a year ago, we understood the resonance of this story.

\"This fulfils all the criteria of the international Jewish conspiracy, the financial elites, paedophilia - it's a massive thing in the States. Now it's here.\"

Shortly after Morgan McSweeney’s resignation was announced, staff were informed he had turned to Mr McSweeney’s two deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, to replace him as the new joint chiefs of staff for the struggling Downing Street operation.

Who are the two women tasked with righting the course of Sir Keir’s administration?

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox has more below:

Britain has been enfeebled by years of top-level scandals that has gone unpunished, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley.

No wonder young people don’t feel their country is worth fighting for.

In 1999, Gordon Brown's former spokesman, Charlie Whelan, resigned for allegedly leaking information about Mandelson not disclosing an interest-free loan of £373,000 from former paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson.

In recent events, Pater Mandelson received a payment of up to £55,000 before deductions after being fired as US ambassador in September.

This has sparked a reaction from a staff member forced to resign from government nearly three decades ago - for allegedly leaking about Mandelson.

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