Morgan McSweeney quits as PM’s chief of employees as Starmer warned ‘sacrificial lamb’ will not save him
Prime Minister’s right-hand man admits he advised Sir Keir to appoint Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US, that decision ‘was wrong’ and had ‘damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself’
Morgan McSweeney(Image: PA Archive)
Morgan McSweeney quit as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff over the Peter Mandelson scandal — but the PM was warned his ‘sacrificial lamb’ will not save him. The Prime Minister’s right-hand man admitted he advised Sir Keir to appoint Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US — and that decision ‘was wrong’.
McSweeney, 48, said Mandelson — who is subject to a police probe over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein following his sex crime convictions — had ‘damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself’. He said: “The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong.
“When asked I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient; in the circumstances the only honourable course is to step aside.”
Mandelson, 72, was appointed to Washington despite Downing Street knowing he stayed friends with Epstein following his convictions. Fresh revelations about the depth of the pair’s relationship have triggered a criminal investigation and plunged Sir Keir into the worst crisis of his premiership.
Following McSweeney’s resignation the Prime Minister said it had been ‘an honour’ working with him for ‘many years’. “He turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign,” Sir Keir said, in a statement that did not mention Mandelson.
“It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country. Having worked closely with Morgan in opposition and in government I have seen every day his commitment to the Labour Party and to our country. Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service.”
But some Labour MPs and all Britain’s other political parties said Starmer should go too. Of McSweeney’s resignation Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X: “It’s about time. But once again with this PM it’s somebody else’s fault: ‘Mandelson lied to me’ or ‘Morgan advised me’.
“Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions. But he never does.” Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “The Prime Minister can change his advisers all he likes but the buck stops with him.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X Labour were ‘just continuing the chaos we saw under the Tories’ adding: “My money says Starmer won’t be far behind.” SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn MP said: “Whenever Keir Starmer makes a catastrophic error of judgement someone else is always forced to carry the can.
“It won’t wash with voters this time. Advisers only advise. It was Keir Starmer who showed appalling personal judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson, despite knowing about his links to Jeffrey Epstein. This is entirely on him.”
He added Starmer was a ‘lame duck’ and should ‘follow Morgan McSweeney out the door’. Green Party leader Zack Polanski wrote on X: “Necessary but not sufficient. He knew. And still appointed him. Starmer needs to go.”
And Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts wrote on X: “Morgan McSweeney’s resignation won’t save Keir Starmer. Making a sacrificial lamb of his chief of staff cannot erase the Prime Minister’s own failure of judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Responsibility rests with the PM.”
Two Labour MPs said Starmer should go too. Brian Leishman, who represents Alloa and Grangemouth, wrote on X: “McSweeney was at the heart of the political mistakes made since the general election. He helped create this factionalism in the Labour Party. The country & party will be better off after today.
“The PM must consider following McSweeney’s lead one last time and doing the same.” MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson said McSweeney’s resignation ‘will not protect the PM’ whose ‘position is untenable’.
And John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn’s former shadow chancellor, said: “Morgan McSweeney’s resignation is the right measure but let’s remember the old adage – advisers advise but ministers decide.” But former Home Secretary Lord Blunkett said though it was right to sack McSweeney ‘everybody’s running around like headless chickens as though there’s only one answer and it’s supposedly to get rid of the Prime Minister’.
“What about all of us pulling together?” McSweeney was regarded as the architect of Starmer’s landslide election victory in 2024.
But recently he had been criticised by Labour MPs who blamed him for a series of U-turns and policy and communications cock-ups. Starmer — who has apologised to Epstein’s victims for giving Mandelson the role of UK envoy to the US — is braced for the scandal to intensify.
He has agreed to allow parliament’s intelligence and security committee to release up to 100,000 documents related to the case – including Mandelson’s communications with ministers and officials while he was in Washington. Starmer believes some exchanges relating to Mandelson’s vetting for the job will support his claim that the former ambassador ‘lied’ about his relationship with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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