Starmer ‘upbeat and confident’ despite two top aides quitting in less than 24 hours
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Sir Keir Starmer will not stand down and remains “upbeat and confident” despite his second top aide quitting in less than 24 hours.
The prime minister’s director of communications, Tim Allan, a former adviser to Sir Tony Blair, announced on Monday morning he was resigning just five months after being brought in to steady the Downing Street ship.
Sir Keir’s fourth head of communications since Labour won the election in July 2024 quit less than 24 hours after the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney resigned over his role in appointing Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
Further links between Lord Mandelson and the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein were revealed last week, with fingers quickly being pointed at Mr McSweeney for encouraging his appointment.
But Mr Allan only became head of communications a week before Lord Mandelson was sacked last September, so was not involved in his appointment.
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Several Labour MPs have publicly called for Sir Keir to step down over the whole episode, with the PM set to address his MPs later today.
However, Downing Street remained defiant on Monday lunchtime, with the prime minister’s spokesman saying Sir Keir will not resign today and his mood is “upbeat and confident”.
Announcing his resignation, Mr Allan said: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built.
“I wish the PM and his team every success.”
The Conservatives jumped on the second resignation of a key Starmer aide in less than 24 hours.
Matt Vickers, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “The rats are abandoning the sinking ship that is Keir Starmer’s premiership.
“Labour MPs should stop moaning and put him out of his misery. The country deserves so much better than this weak, chaotic government.
“The public is crying out for leadership with a backbone, a strong team and the clear plans to get Britain working again. That is Kemi Badenoch’s new Conservative Party.”
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Sir Keir told Downing Street staff at a meeting just before Mr Allan’s resignation that they must prove that politics can be a “force for good” and that they will go forward “with confidence as we continue changing the country”.
About the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington, he said: “The thing that makes me most angry is the undermining of the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives.
“I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson. And I’ve apologised to the victims, which is the right thing to do.”
He described Mr McSweeney as a “colleague and a friend” who he has known for eight years and has “been in every battle that we needed to be in together”.
“We changed the Labour Party together. We won a general election together. And none of that would have been possible without Morgan McSweeney,” he told staff.
“His dedication, his commitment and his loyalty to our party and our country was second to none. And I want to thank him for his service.”
Mr Allan was brought in to turn Number 10’s communication strategy around, more than 25 years after leaving Sir Tony’s Downing Street as his deputy press secretary.
Some inside Number 10 had resisted his appointment due to the communications company he founded, Portland, having taken on work to help improve the Kremlin’s image.
Towards the end of his most recent Downing Street tenure, Mr Allan angered journalists by getting rid of the daily afternoon meeting in which reporters quiz Number 10.
He also introduced social media influencers to PM events and visits, normally only open to traditional media.
