Pressure on UK's Starmer as comms chief quits amid Mandelson row

The drama surrounding UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer intensified on Monday when his director of communications Tim Allan stepped down after five months in post and only 24 hours after chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.

Both resignations come amid fury over the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite his relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Allan, who had worked in Tony Blair’s administration as deputy press secretary, said in a short statement that he decided to stand down “to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success”.

He returned to Downing Street last September as Starmer shook up his team, replacing former Daily Mirror journalist James Lyons, who lasted as director of strategic communications for only a year.

McSweeney quit on Sunday afternoon after the clamour for him to go showed no signs of abating and said he took “full responsibility” for his advice to appoint Mandelson after it emerged that his relationship with Epstein had continued after the disgraced banker had served a jail sentence for sexual trafficking.

The loss of McSweeney, who was at the centre of Starmer’s rise to power and Labour’s crushing General Election win of 2024, will be a major blow to Starmer and leave him exposed to potential leadership challenges from MPs who feel he has not been bold enough or quick to counter the rising popularity of far-right party Reform.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com