Keir Starmer Loses His 'Firewall' as Morgan McSweeney Quits as Labour Chief
Morgan McSweeney's resignation as Keir Starmer's chief of staff is a major blow to the embattled prime minister, who relied heavily on his trusted aide for guidance on key policy issues. The move comes after pressure mounted over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, a decision that has been widely criticised and damaged trust in Labour, the country, and politics itself.
In a statement released to the Guardian, McSweeney took full responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, describing the decision as "wrong". The senior adviser cited his own failure to spot potential red flags during the appointment process. He vowed to step aside from public life for a time but left open the possibility of returning before the next general election.
Labour MPs are now at odds over McSweeney's departure, with some mourning his loss and others seeing him as a scapegoat for Starmer's mistakes. The party's backbenchers have long been critical of McSweeney's role in pushing for austerity measures and limiting Labour's stance on immigration.
Starmer himself acknowledged McSweeney's invaluable contributions to the party, hailing him as "the honourable course" for stepping down. However, the fallout from his resignation serves as a stark reminder that pressure on Starmer will continue to build over the scandal. The release of hundreds of thousands of documents relating to Mandelson and ongoing police investigations into government leaks will only add fuel to the fire.
McSweeney's decision may also have implications for Labour's future direction, with some speculating that his return could be a major factor in Starmer's downfall. As one friend put it, "Morgan has been doing this for 25 years - I'm sure he'll get more involved again in future."
Morgan McSweeney's resignation as Keir Starmer's chief of staff is a major blow to the embattled prime minister, who relied heavily on his trusted aide for guidance on key policy issues. The move comes after pressure mounted over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, a decision that has been widely criticised and damaged trust in Labour, the country, and politics itself.
In a statement released to the Guardian, McSweeney took full responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, describing the decision as "wrong". The senior adviser cited his own failure to spot potential red flags during the appointment process. He vowed to step aside from public life for a time but left open the possibility of returning before the next general election.
Labour MPs are now at odds over McSweeney's departure, with some mourning his loss and others seeing him as a scapegoat for Starmer's mistakes. The party's backbenchers have long been critical of McSweeney's role in pushing for austerity measures and limiting Labour's stance on immigration.
Starmer himself acknowledged McSweeney's invaluable contributions to the party, hailing him as "the honourable course" for stepping down. However, the fallout from his resignation serves as a stark reminder that pressure on Starmer will continue to build over the scandal. The release of hundreds of thousands of documents relating to Mandelson and ongoing police investigations into government leaks will only add fuel to the fire.
McSweeney's decision may also have implications for Labour's future direction, with some speculating that his return could be a major factor in Starmer's downfall. As one friend put it, "Morgan has been doing this for 25 years - I'm sure he'll get more involved again in future."
oh man, i cant believe what just happened... keir starmer needs all the help he can get rn! losing his chief of staff is huge and it shows starmer really didnt have a clue about mandelson's appointment lol. morgan mcSweeney was basically starmer's voice of reason but now its every Labour MP for themselves 
i feel bad for him tho, he took full responsibility for the whole mess... maybe he'll just chill for a bit and then come back swinging 
gotta say, this is huge for Starmer... he relies so heavily on McSweeney, and now he's lost him 
. I mean, that guy was like his right-hand man, advising him on everything 
. The fact that McSweeney took full responsibility for the Mandelson mess is pretty bold 
, but it also shows how much pressure he's under. I don't think Starmer can just brush this off and expect people to trust him again... not after what happened with McSweeney's role in austerity measures 
. This could be a real wake-up call for the party, and we'll see if they can recover from it 
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. It's a major blow to his leadership, and I don't think anyone is going to be able to replace him anytime soon 
. And honestly, I'm not surprised about the whole Mandelson situation – it was bound to come back and bite them in the arse 
. Starmer needs to focus on rebuilding trust with Labour MPs before they turn against him, but at this rate, it's hard to see how he'll manage that 
. The party's going through some serious soul-searching right now, and I'm curious to see where this all goes 
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and now that hes gone, starmer gets to deal with all the fallout from his own mistakes... poor guy needs help 
i wish labour could figure out how to work together instead of tearing each other apart 
he really needs some stability right now and losing McSweeney as his chief of staff is a huge blow 
it's gonna be tough for him to recover from this one
It's like, no matter who's leading them, they're gonna make mistakes. And now Morgan McSweeney's out, which is a big deal because he was basically Starmer's right-hand man. I'm not surprised to see the backbenchers panicking, though - they've always had beef with him over austerity and immigration policy.
This is gonna be a wild ride for Labour.
but seriously though, it's like starmer needs to watch his back because labour mp's are already at odds over mcswenney's departure... some people are mourning his loss while others see him as a scapegoat for starmer's mistakes 
. i feel bad for mcsweeney tho, he took the fall for mandelson's mess... but it's not all on him, starmer's got his own share of blame too 
. and now labor's in chaos... can they ever get back to being a party that represents the people? 
this whole thing is just so messy 
. It's not just this one thing that's got Starmer on the back foot, though - there's still all those documents coming out about Mandelson and a bunch of other stuff that's going to keep the pressure on him 
. And who knows, maybe McSweeney'll be back in the game before the next election 
! McSweeney's resignation is like, "Hey Keir, you're on your own now!" 
I mean, who wouldn't want to leave a job where they have to deal with all the drama and austerity measures? It's like being in a bad relationship – eventually, you just need to get outta there! 
I mean, it's not like they didn't know this was coming. It's all like, "Oh no, our internal conflicts are public now! What have we done?" 
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. But the fallout from his resignation will only add more pressure to Starmer, so we'll have to wait and see how he handles it 
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keir starmer is literally losing his grip on the party and it's not just about morgan mcSweeney quitting as chief of staff. i mean, that guy was supposed to be like a firewall for starmer but now he's taking full responsibility for advising starmer to appoint peter mandelson as us ambassador which is like, super unpopular.
it just goes to show that starmer can't even trust himself, let alone the british people. he's got a whole team of advisors but they all seem to be getting canned one by one. this is gonna be an interesting general election... 
. Losing a chief of staff like Morgan McSweeney is not the end of the world, its just another chapter in the book of leadership lessons. The fact that he took responsibility for advising Starmer on Peter Mandelson's appointment shows he has integrity and that's something we can all learn from 
. Its a reminder that politics can be a game where people are more focused on winning than doing the right thing 
. Let this serve as a lesson to us all: accountability is key, and we must always speak truth to power